Research in the news Toronto Rehab’s research program is constantly making news, whether it’s for our innovative new therapies and technologies,
The Canadian Press
The Toronto Star
CBC News: The National
CTV.ca
Canadian researchers developing specialized video games for stroke treatment
Creating a passion for elder care
‘Winter tire’ boot aims to thwart icy falls
Painkiller abuse sparks new Canadian guidelines
Why do winter falls occur? It’s a question that preoccupies Jennifer Hsu, a Toronto Rehab student researcher studying how well different types of winter boots do on a variety of winter surfaces. The CBC caught up with Hsu at the hospital’s special ClimateLab, which can simulate winter conditions as cold as -20C. Currently, Hsu is focusing on postal workers, who are particularly at risk of winter slips and falls because they work outdoors in all types of weather on a wide variety of surfaces. Her goal: to make recommendations on effective forms of footwear against slips and falls on inclines and transitions, and to develop improved winter footwear design criteria. Ultimately, the findings will benefit everyone who spends time outdoors, says Hsu, a PhD candidate in biomedical and mechanical engineering at the University of Toronto. In the winter of 2005 to 2006 alone, more than 21,000 Ontarians visited an emergency room because of injuries related to falling on ice or snow.
Canada is the world’s third-largest per capita consumer of opioid painkillers. These painkillers, such as morphine, codeine and oxycodone, help people deal with chronic non-cancer pain. But there’s a growing misuse of these medications. CTV.ca reported on new Canadian guidelines to help doctors when they are considering whether to prescribe opioids for their patients. “We hope that one of the benefits of these guidelines will be to reduce the diversion and abuse and addiction problems with these drugs, because these are really good medications,” lead author Dr. Andrea Furlan told CTV.ca. Dr. Furlan is an associate scientist at the Institute for Work and Health, a Toronto Rehab adjunct scientist and clinician, and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine’s division of physiatry at the University of Toronto. The guidelines include 24 practice recommendations for doctors to use.
More than 50 per cent of stroke survivors have speech and language impairments. Treatment and exercises for these disorders can be laborious and repetitive. What if we could bring the excitement of gaming technology to speech therapy? As The Canadian Press reported, Toronto Rehab researchers are working with Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, to do exactly that. The research team is taking speech language techniques currently used one-on-one in the clinic and turning them into a computerized, game-like application. “The idea that we could take some of the therapies that we do that often have a repetitive component to them and make them fun and alluring and keep people engaged was very attractive,” Toronto Rehab senior scientist Dr. Elizabeth Rochon told CP. It’s still early days in the technology’s development but, eventually, patients could play the video-game therapy on their own time, in hospital or at home.
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RESEARCH IN THE NEWS
Seniors are the fastest growing population group in Canada, and Dr. Kathy McGilton is a leading advocate for their needs. The Toronto Star profiled Dr. McGilton, a Toronto Rehab senior scientist and University of Toronto professor who is pioneering new approaches to senior care. Working with colleagues at Toronto Rehab, Dr. McGilton has developed a new model of care for cognitivelyimpaired hip fracture patients. Usually, these patients move directly from acute care to a nursing home, based on a belief that they can’t benefit from active rehabilitation. However, when Toronto Rehab offered a personallytailored form of rehabilitation, “they were just as likely to walk out of the hospital under their own steam and to live in the community after discharge,” Dr. McGilton told The Star. It’s an approach, she added, that can take pressure off long-term care facilities and acute care hospitals. Dr. McGilton is an associate professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing.