None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Allied Health professionals working in rehabilitation frequently prescribe home exercise programs for clients to complete independently between therapy sessions. Written notes or pictures are commonly provided as reminders to clients when prescribing home exercises. These paper based programs are sometimes difficult to follow, and growing collections of paper over the course of a rehabilitation program can become confusing and overwhelming for patients. Many new forms of technology are becoming increasingly accessible to people within the community. Smart technology applications for smart phones and touch-screen tablets are being adopted in rehabilitation settings for such things as: cognitive rehabilitation; cognitive compensatory strategies (such as memory aids); assisting with communication (using picture boards, for example); and improving fine motor skills. However, these devices also provide easy access to other tools such as reminder functions and video recording that could be used to enhance rehabilitation programs. This project aims to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of using the video and reminder functions on touch-screen tablets as a support to prescribed home exercise programs for patients with upper limb deficits following stroke. Specifically, we aim to determine whether patients receiving rehabilitation after stroke using this technology demonstrate greater adherence to prescribed home exercise programs and better functional outcomes when compared to traditional paper based exercise prescription.
Interventions
Home exercise programs of 4 weeks duration presented using video recorded and played back on touch screen tablets (iPads) with electronic reminders.
The content of both the home exercise programs (for both the intervention and control groups) will be based on the recommendations from the Stroke Foundation Clinical Guidelines (2010), including techniques such as:
* Constraint-induced movement therapy in selected people
* Repetitive task-specific training
* Mechanical assisted training
* Mirror
Home exercise programs of 4 weeks duration presented using video recorded and played back on touch screen tablets (iPads) with electronic reminders. The content of both the home exercise programs (for both the intervention and control groups) will be based on the recommendations from the Stroke Foundation Clinical Guidelines (2010), including techniques such as: * Constraint-induced movement therapy in selected people * Repetitive task-specific training * Mechanical assisted training * Mirror therapy * Bilateral training Home programs are typically recommended to be completed 2 times per day, but specific dosage is at the discretion of the managing therapist. Reminders will be set to sound once at the recommended time of each prescribed session.
Sponsors
Eastern Health
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Clients referred to the Eastern Health Community Rehabilitation Program (Peter James Centre and Wantirna Health sites) with a diagnosis of stroke, resulting in any degree of impairment to upper limb function.
Exclusion criteria
Visual or cognitive deficits that would prevent use of the technology, if no carer or family member is available to provide daily assistance.
Outcome results
None listed