578891
research-article2015
CRE0010.1177/0269215515578891Clinical Rehabilitation
CLINICAL REHABILITATION
Introductory paragraph
Technology features in this issue, and I will start by stating my bias, namely that the essence of rehabilitation is about the person and interpersonal relationships and although technology may have a role to play, that role is considerably overvalued and overestimated by most people. But what do the data show? Technology may improve the process of rehabilitation, by helping staff to be much more structured and allowing a much better level of shared documentation. An interesting study involving communitybased rehabilitation after brain injury found that a combination of a more structured approach to goalsetting, based on a computerised system coupled with staff education improved the process of goalsetting. It has yet to be established what effect this may have on outcome. A mirror is a much simpler piece of technology that has been around for millennia, and is also familiar to people. A small study in 34 patients with mobility problems after stroke suggests that looking at a reflection of the healthy limb moving improved gait. Electrical stimulation of muscle is a much more modern technology, slightly over 200 years old and a study on 40 people after stroke found that combining task practice with electrical stimulation may help improve skilled hand movements after stroke. On the other hand a reasonably sized study involving 66 people with Parkinson’s disease failed to find any benefit specifically associated with robot
Clinical Rehabilitation 2015, Vol. 29(4) 314 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0269215515578891 cre.sagepub.com
assisted gait training in contrast to clinical balance training. Balance training coupled with training in multitasking may be one way to reduce the risk of falls in elderly people who are at risk of fracture on falling; this was the finding in a randomised study involving 96 people with osteoporosis. This issue also contains a description of a specific psychologically-based therapy which is being evaluated in a randomised controlled trial. This is “narrative therapy”, and to know what this is will require you to read the paper. The relief of pain is important in all medicine, but this requires a way of evaluating pain which is difficult when the person has minimal or no awareness. A behaviourally-based measure has been devised, the Nocioception Coma Scale and its reliability is investigated in a study reported here. A second measure reported here concerns people with multiple sclerosis and fatigue, and their self-efficacy. This has been studied within a randomised controlled trial and useful data are presented. Finally 32 abstracts from a relatively recent meeting of the Society for Research in Rehabilitation are published, and include six randomised controlled trials and almost as many systematic reviews. There are other studies that may be more interesting although unfortunately less likely to get published as full papers. You can however read about them here and contact the authors for more details.
Copyright of Clinical Rehabilitation is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
research-article2015
CRE0010.1177/0269215515578891Clinical Rehabilitation
CLINICAL REHABILITATION
Introductory paragraph
Technology features in this issue, and I will start by stating my bias, namely that the essence of rehabilitation is about the person and interpersonal relationships and although technology may have a role to play, that role is considerably overvalued and overestimated by most people. But what do the data show? Technology may improve the process of rehabilitation, by helping staff to be much more structured and allowing a much better level of shared documentation. An interesting study involving communitybased rehabilitation after brain injury found that a combination of a more structured approach to goalsetting, based on a computerised system coupled with staff education improved the process of goalsetting. It has yet to be established what effect this may have on outcome. A mirror is a much simpler piece of technology that has been around for millennia, and is also familiar to people. A small study in 34 patients with mobility problems after stroke suggests that looking at a reflection of the healthy limb moving improved gait. Electrical stimulation of muscle is a much more modern technology, slightly over 200 years old and a study on 40 people after stroke found that combining task practice with electrical stimulation may help improve skilled hand movements after stroke. On the other hand a reasonably sized study involving 66 people with Parkinson’s disease failed to find any benefit specifically associated with robot
Clinical Rehabilitation 2015, Vol. 29(4) 314 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0269215515578891 cre.sagepub.com
assisted gait training in contrast to clinical balance training. Balance training coupled with training in multitasking may be one way to reduce the risk of falls in elderly people who are at risk of fracture on falling; this was the finding in a randomised study involving 96 people with osteoporosis. This issue also contains a description of a specific psychologically-based therapy which is being evaluated in a randomised controlled trial. This is “narrative therapy”, and to know what this is will require you to read the paper. The relief of pain is important in all medicine, but this requires a way of evaluating pain which is difficult when the person has minimal or no awareness. A behaviourally-based measure has been devised, the Nocioception Coma Scale and its reliability is investigated in a study reported here. A second measure reported here concerns people with multiple sclerosis and fatigue, and their self-efficacy. This has been studied within a randomised controlled trial and useful data are presented. Finally 32 abstracts from a relatively recent meeting of the Society for Research in Rehabilitation are published, and include six randomised controlled trials and almost as many systematic reviews. There are other studies that may be more interesting although unfortunately less likely to get published as full papers. You can however read about them here and contact the authors for more details.
Copyright of Clinical Rehabilitation is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
