Debora Chasse is an Integrative Systems Model practitioner. ISM is a specialized assessment model that focuses on finding the primary region of the body that, when corrected, improves a person’s function and performance. The model is based on listening to the patient’s complaint, how it affects their body, and what is happening when it occurs. The practitioner’s role is to find what is causing the problem and to correct it.
A good example is a person complaining of urinary incontinence that occurs each time they stand up. Initially, a postural screening for their current body alignment is performed. Secondly, multiple adjustments are made to identify the region, which when corrected, best improves their functional complaint; in this case, standing without urinary leakage. This is known as the “primary driver.” Lastly, the identified adjustment that best improves the complaint is then treated with education, manual therapy, therapeutic exercise, and a home program.
Using this model has made finding the primary cause more efficient and effective with better treatment outcomes.