In Tribute: Steve Haley

Editorial In Tribute: Steve Haley O It is true that Dr. Haley was a distinguished researcher and scholar, that he was highly regarded by many of our health care colleagues at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and that he was a prolific writer. He published more than 150 scholarly articles, with a focus on the development and application of rehabilitation outcome measures. It’s also true that he received numerous grant awards from NIH and the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research. In this tribute, however, I would like to focus on his contributions to PTJ. When I enter “Haley SM” in the search at http://ptjournal.apta.org, his name comes up more than 700 times—as an author, as a commentator, as a citation in other authors’ reference lists. The first research manuscript he ever published was in PTJ, in 1984. I first heard about Dr. Haley in the context of pediatric physical therapy and the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI),1 an assessment tool that has now been adopted by researchers and clinicians internationally. I was associated with the Scientific Review Committee of the Foundation for Physical Therapy, and we funded research to help him in the development of this tool. But…he did so much more! In PTJ alone, he published research on children with muscular dystrophy,2 cerebral palsy,3 and acquired brain injury4; investigated the value of a fitness program for children with disabilities5; and spoke about outcomes following inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation.6 To comment, submit a Rapid Response to this editorial posted online at ptjournal.apta.org. Steve was one of the leaders in measurement and helped us understand the clinical meaningfulness of change scores on outcome measures.7 Authors who have written on such diverse topics as Parkinson disease,8 stroke,9 cervical manipulation,10 knee pain,11 and low back pain12 refer to his publications on measurement. Along with Dr. Alan Jette, Steve pushed the profession to adopt the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health by publishing research to demonstrate its value in describing outcomes. Most recently, these 2 scholars introduced us to computerized adaptive testing with the Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care (AM-PAC).13 At a recent council meeting at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, I was not surprised to hear staff speak with enthusiasm about the value of this instrument to assess children with disabilities. Among his many service contributions to our profession, Steve was an outstanding manuscript reviewer. His thoughtful and extensive comments to authors provided clear justifications for his recommendations and also mentored the authors to improve their manuscripts and to design future investigations to answer their research questions more effectively. I am so grateful that his contributions and his call to conduct the 1294 ■ Physical Therapy Volume 91 Number 9 September 2011 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article-abstract/91/9/1294/2735080 by guest on 01 June 2020 ur physical therapy and rehabilitation community has lost another outstanding colleague. Stephen M. Haley, PT, PhD, FAPTA, died after a protracted battle with leukemia and treatment complications on July 19, 2011. Steve received his certificate in physical therapy from Ohio State University and his PhD in educational psychology from the University of Washington. At the time of his death, he was professor of health policy and management at the Boston University School of Public Health, associate director of Boston University’s Health & Disability Research Institute, and director of research at the Center for Children with Special Health Care Needs at Boston’s Franciscan Hospital. Editorial “best” research were recognized. He received the Golden Pen Award for contributions to PTJ and the Helen Hislop Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Professional Literature in Physical Therapy, and he was a Catherine Worthingham Fellow. Although we have lost a wonderful colleague and friend, his extensive contributions to the literature, to his peers, and to his students will stay with us. Thank you, Steve, for all that you did for us as individuals and as a profession. Rebecca L. Craik References 1 Feldman AB, Haley SM, Coryell J. Concurrent and construct validity of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory. Phys Ther. 1990;70:602–610. 2 Brussock CM, Haley SM, Munsat TL, Bernhardt DB. Measurement of isometric force in children with and without Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy. Phys Ther. 1992;72:105–114. 3 Haley SM, Fragala-Pinkham MA, Dumas HM, et al. Evaluation of an item bank for a computerized adaptive test of activity in children with cerebral palsy. Phys Ther. 2009;89:589–600. 4 Kothari DH, Haley SM, Gill-Body KM, Dumas HM. Measuring functional change in children with acquired brain injury (ABI): comparison of generic and ABI-specific scales using the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI). Phys Ther. 2003;83:776–785. 5 Fragala-Pinkham MA, Haley SM, Rabin J, Kharasch VS. A fitness program for children with disabilities. Phys Ther. 2005;85:1182–1200. 6 Iyer LV, Haley SM, Watkins MP, Dumas HM. Establishing minimal clinically important differences for scores on the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory for inpatient rehabilitation. Phys Ther. 2003;83:888–898. 7 Haley SM, Fragala-Pinkham MA. Interpreting change scores of tests and measures used in physical therapy. Phys Ther. 2006;86:735–743. 8 Leddy AL, Crowner BE, Earhart GM. Functional gait assessment and Balance Evaluation System Test: reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity for identifying individuals with Parkinson disease who fall. Phys Ther. 2011;91:102–113. 9 Tilson JK, Sullivan KJ, Cen SY, et al; for the Locomotor Experience Applied Post Stroke (LEAPS) Investigative Team. Meaningful gait speed improvement during the first 60 days poststroke: minimal clinically important difference. Phys Ther. 2010;90:196–208. 10 Cleland JA, Mintken PE, Carpenter K, et al. Examination of a clinical prediction rule to identify patients with neck pain likely to benefit from thoracic spine thrust manipulation and a general cervical range of motion exercise: multi-center randomized clinical trial. Phys Ther. 2010;90:1239–1250. 11 Deutscher D, Hart DL, Stratford PW, Dickstein R. Construct validation of a knee-specific functional status measure: a comparative study between the United States and Israel. Phys Ther. 2011;91:1072–1084. 12 Freburger JK, Carey TS, Holmes GM. Physical therapy for chronic low back pain in North Carolina: overuse, underuse, or misuse? Phys Ther. 2011;91:484–495. 13 Jette AM, Haley SM, Tao W, et al. Prospective evaluation of the AM-PAC-CAT in outpatient rehabilitation settings. Phys Ther. 2007;87:385–398. [DOI: 10.2522/ptj.2011.91.9.1294] September 2011 Volume 91 Number 9 Physical Therapy ■ 1295 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article-abstract/91/9/1294/2735080 by guest on 01 June 2020 R.L. Craik, PT, PhD, FAPTA, is Editor in Chief of PTJ and Professor and Chair, Department of Physical Therapy, Arcadia University, Glenside, Pennsylvania. Dr Craik can be reached at: [email protected].