Physiospot - Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy in the Spotlight » Neurology

Mirror therapy for improving motor function after stroke: Cochrane Review

Rachael Lowe — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:09:26 +0000

Paralysis of the arm or leg is common after stroke and frequently causes problems with activities of daily living such as walking, dressing or eating. Mirror therapy is used to improve motor function after stroke. During mirror therapy, a mirror is placed in the patient’s midsagittal plane, thus reflecting movements of the non-paretic side as if it were the affected side. The objective of this Cochrane reviw was to summarise the effectiveness of mirror therapy for improving motor function, activities of daily living, pain and visuospatial neglect in patients after stroke. 14 studies with a total of 567 participants that compared mirror therapy with other interventions were compared.

At the end of treatment, mirror therapy improved movement of the affected limb and the ability to carry out daily activities. Mirror therapy reduced pain after stroke, but only in patients with a complex regional pain syndrome. The beneficial effects on movement were maintained for six months, but not in all study groups. No adverse side effects were reported. Further research is needed with larger studies in natural clinical settings, and with a comparison of mirror therapy with more routine treatments.

Thieme H, Mehrholz J, Pohl M, Behrens J, Dohle C. Mirror therapy for improving motor function after stroke. The Cochrane Library, 14 March 2012.

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Exploring the brain – 27th April – Coventry, UK

Rachael Lowe — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 07:56:48 +0000

These neuroscience based workshop sessions are designed for professionals in rehabilitation: Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Nurses and others.

Learning outcomes:

To be able to use knowledge of brain structure and function in developing imaginative treatment planning in rehabilitation.
To have a deeper understanding of the client’s response to stress and pain.
To understand the complexity of decision making when planning treatment and organising a department.

Tutor: Dr Gillie McNeill BA DPhil (Oxford)

Date: Friday 27th April 2012

Duration: One day

Cost: £80.00

Venue: University Hospital Coventry

Location: Coventry, Warwickshire

Contact Name: Sue Dukelow

Contact Phone: 01375 893 820

Contact Email: sd@welbeing-cpd.co.uk

Web Link to Course: www.welbeing-cpd.co.uk

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Freedom for paraplegics with robotic transportation.

Rachael Lowe — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:44:16 +0000

We’ve been seeing a number of creative design ideas to replace traditional wheelchairs. A totally new kind of device from Turkish company AMS Mekatronic was just introduced that slightly echoes the idea of the Segway. Instead of being seated, the user stands straight in the Tek Robotic Mobilization Device, but can crouch down to be able to reach things near the feet.

Because the device is located in front of the person, unlike a wheelchair which is below and behind, getting into it and transferring back to a seating position looks less like a circus trick.

Here’s more from the product page, and be sure to check out the video below to see the Tek RMD in action:

One of the main problems of any wheelchair is that, it can only be front-mounted. This is a problem because wherever a person is sitting, like a couch, bed, toilet seat or a chair, his front side is always free and his body is always resting on his back. For this reason paraplegic people have to lift their body with their arms and throw themselves onto their wheelchairs in order to transfer their body from a bed or a chair. This motion of throwing the body is difficult, dangerous, and almost impossible to do without assistance, especially for older and/or overweight people. On the other hand Tek Robotic Mobilization Device can be pulled easily by the user and the user can mount onto the device securely from its back. Mounting and dismounting the device can be done successfully in a much safer way since the user is doing so while in a seated position.

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Mediterranea creates new physiotherapy service in Ghana.

Rachael Lowe — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:19:17 +0000

Today a meeting was held in the UIB (Balearic Islands University) with the team running the UIB-At the beginning of May Alicia Moratiel, Physiotherapist and Member of Mediterranea, a humanitarian aid NGO based in Mallorca, opened her email and saw the following communication from the College of Physiotherapists in the Baleares: ‘The NGO Mediterranea is developing a project in Ghana. Part of this project is to start a physiotherapy dept in a small hospital in the East of the country just where the Volta enters the sea. We need volunteers to help get things started and train the future local team.’ Alicia immediately started to gather more information. She discovered that the hospital Dangme East in Ada Foah was organised by one doctor, Dr Philip Narth, who works 24 hours a day all days of the year and has 30 nurses for a population of 186000. The ratio of nurses per inhabitant in Spain is 531 per 100000 and of doctors 445 per 100000. In this region of Africa there is 1 for 186000! It seemed to her to be completely disproportionate. At the level of physiotherapy it seemed clear, a hospital that cares for a high percentage of cardiovascular and traffic accidents needs to have physiotherapy. Also to rehabilitate post traumatic injuries, to assist the recovery of patients who have been operated, to reduce recovery time, to assist in the regeneration of epithelial tissue, burns, ulcers…these and others are the functions that Alicia thought they could develop. Alicia also discovered that Mediterranea had fulfilled a number of other projects at the hospital, including setting up a laboratory for the hospital and building a residence for mothers visiting the hospital with their children. She was also surprised and happy to read in the Mediterranea blog that, thanks to the generosity of some British members, the physiotherapy project already had a substantial amount of equipment in Ghana waiting to be used.

From that point onwards things moved quickly. At the end of May at the first meeting volunteers were able to learn more about Mediterranea, it’s ideas and philosophy, see some photos of the hospital and region, they covered some logistic themes like vaccines and first aid and learnt about all the documentation that was needed. At the meeting they organised an administrative nucleus of physios to coordinate the physiotherapy side of the project. They followed this meeting with another some days later and had a number of lecturers from the UIB (University of Baleares) attend. They established minimum and maximum stays for the volunteers in Ghana and agreed to group together the trips of volunteers to minimise the disruption to Dr Narth’s team in Ghana since the airport is 200+ km from the hospital. They also allocated the different tasks amongst themselves. As Alicia was not able to attend the first meeting and as someone completely new to this type of project she was hypnotised by the energy and enthusiasm of the other physios at this meeting and their desire to develop our profession into regions where it’s needed. She also appreciated the big effort that would be required to coordinate the trips and handovers of not only our Spanish physios but also British physios who had responded with enthusiasm to a small communication from Mediterranea distributed through the Institute of Physiotherapists in the UK.

A couple of weeks later a third meeting was held to clarify some details and to go deeper into the second part of the project which is the training that will be provided to the locals in Ghana. The first part of the project is immediate. To get the physiotherapy dept up and running and they shall achieve this by maintaining a flow of volunteers to the hospital. The second part will be a little more complex and will involve some communication between the University of Ghana’s physiotherapy dept based in Accra and the UIB, in order to launch an official training course for physios in that part of the country.

Last year Mediterranea officially launched the Physiotherapy Dept in Dangme East Hospital, Ghana.

Since July last year the UIB and the team running the UIB-Mediterranea NGO Physiotherapy program have sent 7 Physiotherapists to the Dangme East hospital in Ada Ghana where they have treated people and where they have introduced physiotherapy as yet another service the hospital can offer to the population it looks after. In the near future a team of 3 or 4 staff from the university will travel to Ghana to put in to effect a training program in conjunction with the Physiotherapy faculty in Accra.

Physiopedia is proud to acknowledge the efforts of the people involved in this project. It is a great example of what a few people and small partnerships can achieve to selflessly help those in need, spreading physiotherapy knowledge around the world to improve global health.

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International Shoulder Symposium: The Challenge of the Rotator Cuff – 6th Oct 2012 – London

Rachael Lowe — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:42:48 +0000

Course Summary:
This one day International Shoulder Symposium ”The Challenge of the Rotator Cuff”, is brought to you by EUSSER. The European Society for Shoulder & Elbow Rehabilitation is the only Europe wide society that connects healthcare professionals with an interest in shoulder and elbow dysfunction. The objective of the society is to provide the highest standard of information and education to enhance patient care. The society is supported by other organisations such as SECEC/ESSSE (European Society for Surgery of the Shoulder and Elbow) and ESSKA (European Society of Sports Traumatology knee surgery and arthroscopy).

Aim: The Challenge of the Rotator Cuff
Shoulder pain is now the third highest musculoskeletal complaint in the UK and set to rise given the increasing needs of a growing elderly population. Current treatment concepts range from exercise therapy through to surgery, but lack common evaluation criteria. This symposium invites internationally renowned speakers to discuss the aetiology and management of rotator cuff disease.
The day will cover key areas including; epidemiology, clinical assessment, injection/therapy and surgical management. The afternoon session will include discussion of clinical cases studies utilising the expertise of the faculty.
The day is applicable to all clinicians; physiotherapists and doctors including GPs and surgeons.

Tutors: Mr Ian Bayley BSc, FRCS (UK),Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Professor Ann Cools PT, PhD (Belgium) Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Ghent University Belgium Professor Lennard Funk BSc MBBCh MSc FRCS(Tr&Orth)FFSEM(UK) Shoulder Surgeon, Wrightington Hospital,Professor of Orthopaedics & Sports Science, Salford University Jo Gibson MCSP – Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist (UK) Associate Professor Karen Ginn, PhD MHPEd GDManipTher (Australia)Head, Discipline of Biomedical Science, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney Karin Hekman, MSc MT (The Netherlands) Clinical Physiotherapy, manual therapist, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam Anju Jaggi, MSc MCSP (UK) Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Trust Mr Simon Lambert BSc, FRCS, FRCS Ed Orth (UK),Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Clinical Lead, Shoulder and Elbow Service, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Trust, Stanmore, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science, UCL Annelies Maenhout, PT, PhD student (Belgium), Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Ghent University Belgium

Date: Saturday 6th October 2012

Duration: One day Symposium

Cost: £90.00 – EUSSER Members – £120.00 non EUSSER Members – £150 attend Conference and EUSSER Membership

Venue: The British Library Conference Centre

Location: London Euston

Contact Name: Irene or Sue

Contact Phone: 01375 893 820

Contact Email: iw@welbeing-cpd.co.uk

Web Link to Course: www:welbeing-cpd.co.uk

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Online physiotherapy glossary from the WCPT

Rachael Lowe — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:23:07 +0000

Supporting the Confederation’s policies and guidelines, the WCPT has launched an online glossary. It has been developed for the profession to aid international interpretation and promote a global consistency in terminology. Citing the importance of having an international glossary WCPT’s President, Marilyn Moffat, says “WCPT’s glossary is the first A-Z covering professional and educational issues, rather than practice interventions. To support the development and implementation of WCPT’s policies and guidelines a clear understanding of terminology internationally is important and this glossary is designed to facilitate that and promote consistency. We’re hopeful that this will be a valuable resource for the profession and one that will continue to grow over time”. With over 170 fully referenced terms the glossary is a significant tool for WCPT’s member organisations, regions, subgroups and individual physical therapists. WCPT is encouraging the wide use of these international terms. The glossary may be accessed as:

An annual review of this glossary will take place. Member organisations, regions and subgroups can suggest amendments and terms for inclusion in the glossary where they are internationally applicable. Please send suggestions and comments to info@wcpt.org.

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Crucial role of physiotherapists highlighted in end of life care guide

Rachael Lowe — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:42:05 +0000

This ‘how to’ guide for end of life care builds upon the overarching framework set out in The route to success in end of life care – achieving quality in acute hospitals, published in 2010. The route to success highlighted best practice models developed by acute hospital Trusts, providing a comprehensive framework to enable hospitals to deliver high quality care to people at the end of life. This ‘how to’ guide aims to help clinicians, managers and directors implement ‘The route to success’ more effectively.

The guidelines have been produced by the National End of Life Care Programme (NEoLCP) in collaboration with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. This guide will only improve the way hospitals care for people nearing the end of life if frontline, practical professionals commit to it. Physiotherapists have a crucial role to play in supporting people in the last phase of life, they can make a real difference to improve end of life care.

Physio Dubai 2012 – 20/21 May – Dubai

Rachael Lowe — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:09:54 +0000

Following the great success of Physio Dubai 2010, the Emirates Physiotherapy Society is proud to announce the 4th Biennial Emirates Physiotherapy Conference, Physio Dubai 2012. The conference will focus on presenting the latest scientific knowledge in various aspects of physiotherapy practice related to movement dysfunction.

Conference objectives:

To contribute to the professional development of physiotherapists by bringing together experts to share their knowledge and research findings.
To provide an opportunity for local physiotherapists to expand collaborative networks for learning regionally and internationally.
To identify and describe current evidence – based practice in physiotherapy management.
To highlight the role of multidisciplinary approach in the physiotherapy practice.
To provide a forum for presenting and sharing knowledge and ideas at an academic, conceptual and clinical level.

Content:

The conference will be comprised of keynote lectures, free paper sessions, poster presentations, breakout clinical workshops and pre/ post conference courses. The official language of the conference is English.

Program Highlights:

New models of service delivery for stroke management
Physiotherapy for Men’s health
Update on international professional issues in physiotherapy
Physiotherapy management for the sporting shoulder, foot and ankle
Prevention and rehabilitation of hamstring injuries
Latest evidence in the practical application of clinical neurodynamics

Tutor: Emirates Physiotherapy Society

Date: 20-21 May 2012

Duration: 4 days program

Cost: conference & courses rate are on www.physiodubai.com

Venue: Emirates Towers hotel

Location: Dubai – UAE

Contact Name: MCI

Contact Phone: -

Contact Email: physiodubai2012@mci-group.com

Web Link to Course: www.physiodubai.com

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Worlds first 3D transplant mandible.

Rachael Lowe — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:28:43 +0000

A 3D printer-created lower jaw has been fitted to an 83-year-old woman’s face in what doctors say is the first operation of its kind. A multidisciplinary team of engineers and clinicians led by The Functional Morphology Research Group at the University of Hasselt BIOMED Research Institute has created what they believe to be the very first complete 3D-printed lower jaw. Following an MRI scan of the patient’s own diseased mandible, the new mandible was created using laser printing of titanium powder to create a custom 3D implant. The implant is a little heavier than a natural lower jaw weighing in at approximately 107 grams. It was printed in a matter of hours before being sprayed with an artificial bone coating and finally being polished. The new jaw was made for an 83 year old woman who had her entire mandible removed in order to prevent the spread of osteomyelitis and retain an open airway and basic swallowing and chewing functions. The surgery, which took place in June of last year, lasted less than four hours and within one day of the operation the patient regained basic speech and swallowing functions.

CSP formally opposes UK health bill.

Rachael Lowe — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:22:14 +0000

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in the UK has called for the government’s Health and Social Care Bill to be withdrawn. Chair of council Helena Johnson wrote to prime minister David Cameron and health secretary Andrew Lansley saying the government had failed to make the radical changes needed to the legislation and the bill should now be withdrawn. Final government amendments to the bill were announced at the end of January, with Mr Lansley saying the government had been ‘carefully listening’ to concerns, and the amendments would ‘address these remaining issues’. But CSP said the changes had failed to do this. The society has been a key voice in the opposition to the health bill, particularly over the plans for an increased role for private companies in the NHS.