Milаdin Rаdisаvljеvić

A publication by Snežana Milićev, PhD, a specialist of physical medicine and rehabilitation, issued under the title “General Kinesitherapy – Therapeutic Exercise” represents a comprehensive overview of the significance of kinesitherapy in medical rehabilitation. The author describes the contemporary approach to patient in a relatively ample manner, without neglecting the common doctrine at any point. She particularly underlines the need to permanently observe patient as a whole, unique psycho-physical personality, and to apply certain kinesitherapeutic procedures so as to improve patient’s life quality and comfort to the maximum. Apart from describing kinesitherapeutic procedures, the author also promotes the importance of knowledge in kinesiology as a basis for the selection, understanding and application of therapeutic movement (exercise) for prevention-prophylactic and curative purposes. In this publication, reader soon realizes that kinesitherapy is actually applied kinesiology. Such notion can be accepted as these two corresponding, i.e. compatible disciplines provide the necessary knowledge required to establish physical and functional status, based on which a plan of therapeutic movement (exercise) implementation is created. The publication by Snežana Milićev, PhD, a lecturer of the College of Sports and Health, study program Vocational Physiotherapist, features 181 pages, with illustrations of 53 therapeutic exercises. In addition, it includes three appendices and 2 forms created by the author herself. The publication also contains 50 bibliographic units by both domestic and foreign authors relevant to the field in question. The publication contains several methodical units. In the first part, the author presents basic anatomic structures important for good locomotion, which is followed by a description of biological-medical effects, as well as the physiological response of human organism to therapeutic exercise. In that context, the field of adaptation to physical activity and the domain of training and overtraining have been covered in a relatively comprehensive manner. Apart from physiotherapists, who are the target audience for this publication, this segment may also be used in the education of sports coaches, sports medicine doctors, physical medicine and rehabilitation doctors, physical education professors, etc. A number of persons often appear in the media, trying to point to the need for physical exercise. However, almost none of them stress the harmful effects of inactivity and its influence to organism. This is precisely what Snežana Milićev, PhD does in her publication, covering this field along with the essential measures for overcoming and removing harmful consequences of inactivity. These procedures involve the application of a kinesitherapeutic program. Each kinesitherapeutic treatment initially implies the determination of functional status, i.e. functional estimation (finding), based on which functional evaluation is performed. This part of the publication provides a detailed description of anthropometric measuring, manual estimation of muscle strength, clinical estimation of body status, the description of starting positions in kinesitherapy, etc. Particular attention should be paid to the part of the publication referring to kinesitherapeutic equipment. This part contains very professionally and concisely described analytical (simple) and complex (compound) therapeutic movement, as well as the categorization of exercise according to the basic goals of kinesitherapeutic treatment. The final part of the publication deals with all types and forms of therapeutic movement. A major part of the text refers to patient’s early verticalization, transfer exercise, training of walking with orthopedic aids, canes, crutches, walkers, balance exercise, etc. Since proprioceptive exercise occupies a significant place in prevention as well as rehabilitation from sports injuries, the author dedicated some attention to this area, as well. Readers should take note of the field of proprioceptive training, stabilizer musculature training, sensomotoric training and the principles of proprioceptive training. In addition to all this, Snežana Milićev, PhD, dedicates a fair amount of the text to the illustration of stretching exercise, which improves mobility, breathing, strengthening, coordination, etc.

Keywords: general kinesitherapy

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