Ancient Wisdom and Modern Methods for Contemporary Challenges

by CHUCK WASSERSTROM

Crisis creates opportunity. That is one of Zibin Guo’s principles, and it’s a cornerstone of the Wheelchair/Adaptive Tai Chi for Veterans program he runs.

Guo, a UC Foundation professor of medical anthropology in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Department of Social, Cultural and Justice Studies, says the program is part of his academic quest to redefine disability by utilizing ancient wisdom to help modern people deal with contemporary challenges.

Funded by the Adaptive Sports Program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the program integrates deep breathing with the gentle, flowing movements of tai chi chuan, a martial art known for its health benefits and meditation. It is ideal for veterans with physical or emotional difficulties that limit mobility.

The tai chi chuan program had always been demonstrated in an in-person format, but when COVID-19 reached Chattanooga, Guo faced a predicament: How do you hold this class when you can’t meet face-to-face? It turns out that contemporary challenges can be resolved in the virtual world.

“When COVID-19 hit, that became a really difficult time for a lot of veterans with PTSD and emotional distress. They needed this program, but they couldn’t do it face-toface,” Guo says, “so I thought about doing a virtual training course to provide instructors and health care providers with a model of using this virtual format to deliver the program to the veterans. It was the first time we did this virtually, and I was quite surprised by how well it went.

“Coronavirus is a crisis, but crisis always creates opportunities. Before the crisis, no one thought about using a virtual format, but it has worked out great.”

Guo and a team of instructors with the Chattanooga-based nonprofit Adaptive Tai Chi International put together a 10-day national workshop featuring 35 Zoom virtual training sessions. The focus was to offer health care providers various modalities of implementing wheelchair/adaptive tai chi to promote physical and psychological wellbeing.

During the program’s initial run in a virtual setting, 38 health care providers from 18 states completed the training, including physical therapists, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, specialists from pain and mental health clinics and managers of whole health programs from VA medical centers.

With training under their belts, health care workers can now work with their patients differently when face-to-face interaction is not advised.

“As it turns out, because a lot of veterans have physical disabilities, they love this kind of format,” Guo says. “They don’t have to worry about finding somebody to drive them. And some of them who cannot drive don’t want to ask for help. But now there is a virtual format.

“One gentleman with Parkinson’s Disease who had been participating in the adaptive tai chi program had stopped coming because of the deterioration of his disease. I sent him an email once we knew he could take virtual classes, and he was so happy and excited. This was perfect for him.”

The training team received overwhelmingly positive comments from many training participants, Guo says, and the encouraging feedback demonstrated the effectiveness of employing the virtual format to deliver programs and services.

Guo followed up on the success of the initial virtual program by directing and conducting an 18-hour training program this summer for healthcare providers at eight VA medical centers around the country. Six of those eight workshops were done virtually.

The main objectives of these training workshops, he says, are to give participants a thorough introduction to wheelchair/ applied tai chi chuan—including its development, characteristics, methods, principles, applications and benefits as an intervention strategy—as well as constructive and systemic instruction so they can gain proficiency in applying this program.

His work in developing, promoting and implementing a program for people with disabilities continues to gain notice. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s International Centre of Martial Arts for Youth Development and Engagement has been developing inclusive martial arts programs to promote human rights throughout the world. Guo was invited to be a guest speaker as part of an August UNESCO ICM webinar about the implications of the wheelchair tai chi chuan program in the context of human rights and empowerment, health and wellbeing.

“This is a positive story showing off a program that UTC supports, but it’s more about the community efforts,” Guo says.

“Together, we created a nicely organized national training that will make a difference.”

A snippet of a virtual Wheelchair/Adaptive Tai Chi for Veterans training course Zibin Guo developed and implemented as a way to help healthcare providers comply with COVID safety standards while still providing this service to disabled veterans.