New perspectives from the Integrated Systems Model for treating women with pelvic girdle pain, urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse and/or diastasis rectus abdominis

Author(s): D. G. Lee - Pages: 10–24

Abstract

The Integrated Systems Model (ISM) is an evidence-based approach that considers both pain and disability. It relates impairments found in systems to pain, and the impact of these impairments and pain on the synergistic function required for optimal strategies for performance and, ultimately, health. It is a model that applies to the whole person, rather than to a specific type of pain or impairment presentation, and thus, the ISM can be used across populations suffering from pain, impairment and disease. When treating women with pelvic girdle pain, urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse and/or diastasis rectus abdominis, the ISM facilitates the clinical reasoning process that then determines where best to begin treatment (i.e. find the primary driver for each meaningful task) since no two women have the same story or goals (i.e. meaningful complaint), and each patient must be assessed and treated individually.

Keywords: diastasis rectus abdominis, Integrated Systems Model, pelvic girdle pain, pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence.