USA: News from the Bateman Horne Center

New video posted on the Bateman Horne Center YouTube channel:

Coffee with a Clinician: "Pacing for Holidays and Special Events"
(session held on December 10)

Summary:
Holidays and special events can be especially challenging for people living with ME/CFS, Long COVID, and other infection-associated chronic conditions.

In this December "Coffee" with a Clinician session, occupational therapist Amy Mooney, OTR/L, and physical therapist Melinda Maxwell, PT, DPT, share practical, compassionate strategies for navigating these moments while protecting your health.

This conversation explores how pacing, planning, and prioritizing can help reduce post-exertional malaise (PEM) and support meaningful participation, whether that means attending part of an event, connecting briefly with loved ones, or finding alternative ways to stay engaged.

In this session, we discuss:

• Why holidays and special events increase physical, cognitive, sensory, and emotional exertion
• Breaking events into manageable pieces and identifying your “golden nugget”
• Planning rest as a therapeutic, non-negotiable intervention
• Recognizing early signs of pushing beyond your energy envelope
• Communicating boundaries and needs with family, friends, and providers
• Coping with grief, loss, isolation, and emotional exertion during the holidays
• Strategies for rest, regulation, and recovery before, during, and after events

This session is part of the Bateman Horne Center’s "Coffee" with a Clinician series, designed to provide education, validation, and practical tools for patients, caregivers, and clinicians.
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"Coffee" with a Clinician, from Bateman Horne Center:

Topic: Basics of Long COVID, ME/CFS, & Comorbidities

Wednesday, January 14, 10 AM MDT (9 am PT / 11 am CT / 12 pm ET)

Featuring:
- Lucinda Bateman, MD (BHC Founder and Chief Medical Officer)
- Moderated by Clayton Powers, DPT (BHC medical education liaison)

Coffee with a Clinician is free to attend, with an optional $5 donation to support BHC’s education and outreach programs.

Advance registration required - Registration link
(registration link shows time in your time zone)
 
Blog post from Bateman Horne Center:

Physical Therapy Must Catch Up: Teaching ME/CFS is No Longer Optional
Bateman Horne Center said:
This fall, my co-authors and I published a long-overdue article explaining why Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs must begin teaching ME/CFS in their classes and include it in clinical training. (You can read it here).

Our paper serves as a roadmap for programs in how to teach about ME/CFS and other related diagnoses, such as Long COVID.

ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) is a serious, multi-system illness that disrupts how the body produces and manages energy. Despite the severity, only about one-third of U.S. medical schools teach anything about it.[1] Although we don’t have data on physical therapy (PT) programs, patient experiences in PT clinics and the lack of ME/CFS training in medicine overall suggests that most PT students likely graduate with little to no knowledge of the illness.

This lack of training is especially dangerous because of post-exertional malaise (PEM). PEM, the core feature of ME/CFS, is the delayed worsening of symptoms due to physical, cognitive, emotional or sensory effort, sometimes for days, weeks, or longer. This means many PT strategies, especially graded exercise with automatic activity progression, can be not only ineffective but harmful. [2] Without education on ME/CFS and PEM, PTs may unintentionally cause setbacks, or long-term decline.
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"Coffee" with a Clinician, from Bateman Horne Center:

Topic: Assessing Impaired Function (Clinical Evaluation)

Wednesday, February 11, 10 am MDT (9 am PT / 11 am CT / 12 pm ET)

Featuring:
- Jennifer Bell, FNP, and BHC Provider
- Sallie Rediske, MPT, is a medically retired Physical Therapist and has had ME/CFS since she was 8 years old.
- Jaime Booz, SLP, is a speech language pathologist at the University of Utah Health and has lived experience with Long COVID & ME/CFS.
- and moderated by Thalia Ruschioni (Bateman Horne Center Executive Director)

Coffee with a Clinician is free to attend, with an optional $5 donation to support BHC’s education and outreach programs.

Advance registration required - Registration link
(registration link shows time in your time zone)
 
New blog post from Bateman Horne Center:

Local Care, National Impact
As we move into 2026, Bateman Horne Center is taking the next step in its evolution by formalizing and scaling what we have learned through our Access to Care Model — a framework designed to extend specialized, coordinated care beyond a single clinic.

The model connects expert evaluation at Bateman Horne Center with care delivered closer to home. Patients complete coordinated multidisciplinary evaluations, which are synthesized into a clear, implementation-ready care plan designed to be carried forward by a patient’s primary care provider or specialist. Bateman Horne Center clinicians support this transition through peer-to-peer consultation, helping translate specialized guidance into day-to-day care.

Patients also receive education, resources, and access to support groups so that care continues beyond a single visit and a single location. Grounded in years of clinical experience and shaped by persistent gaps in diagnosis and access, the Access to Care Model helps ensure that specialized care is available wherever patients live.
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A lot of buzzwords here. Very lofty goals (e.g., wanting to help patients who can't travel to the clinic) but it's not clear to me how this new model is actually going to help patients.

What treatments are included in their "implementation-ready care plan" ?

I truly am not being snarky here. I don't think they have bad intentions. A lot of their work (videos, support groups) seems helpful.

But like so many ME/CFS "clinics" when you try get treatment details all you find on the website is hand-waving and generalities. Not to mention lots of requests for donations.
 
From Facebook:

New Resource Available

Finding support shouldn’t depend on where you live.

We’re excited to share Bateman Horne Center’s State-by-State Resource Directory, a free, community-focused guide designed to help people living with ME/CFS and other disabling chronic illnesses find local and national support resources.

Inside you’ll find:
• State-specific programs and services
• Federal and national resources
• Help lines and crisis support
• Information to support daily living, healthcare access, and stability

Whether you’re newly diagnosed, supporting a loved one, or navigating long-term illness, this guide is here to help you feel a little less alone, and a little more supported.

Access the directory here: https://bit.ly/3ZBBIAC
 
ahimsa said:
"Coffee" with a Clinician, from Bateman Horne Center:

Topic: Assessing Impaired Function (Clinical Evaluation)

Wednesday, February 11, 10 am MDT (9 am PT / 11 am CT / 12 pm ET)

Featuring:
- Jennifer Bell, FNP, and BHC Provider
- Sallie Rediske, MPT, is a medically retired Physical Therapist and has had ME/CFS since she was 8 years old.
- Jaime Booz, SLP, is a speech language pathologist at the University of Utah Health and has lived experience with Long COVID & ME/CFS.
- and moderated by Thalia Ruschioni (Bateman Horne Center Executive Director)

Coffee with a Clinician is free to attend, with an optional $5 donation to support BHC’s education and outreach programs.

Advance registration required - Registration link
(registration link shows time in your time zone)
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Recording:


Hopefully these are clickable:

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Resources from the session​

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Updated to add topic for this session (was TBA) and brief description.
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"Coffee" with a Clinician, from Bateman Horne Center:

Topic: Post-Exertional Malaise, Part 1
The Coffee with a Clinician sessions are dedicated to sharing key principles and practical tips from the BHC Clinical Care Guide.

Topic: Sections 4.1 and 4.2 – Key characteristics and pathophysiology of post-exertional malaise (PEM)
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Wednesday, March 11, 10 am MDT (9 am PT / 11 am CT / 12 pm ET)

Coffee with a Clinician is free to attend, with an optional $5 donation to support BHC’s education and outreach programs.

Advance registration required - Registration link
(registration link shows time in your time zone)
 
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