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Many thanks to all who attended the second annual OCSRN Stroke Educational Workshop that was held on November 5, 2011, at Chapman University. Nearly two hundred therapists, nurses, researchers, and other rehabilitation professionals attended the event, which was co-sponsored by Chapman University’s Schmid College of Science and Technology and the Department of Physical Therapy and Dr. Steven Cramer’s Laboratory at the University of California, Irvine. We also thank the wonderful student volunteers from Chapman’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program for their help!

If you were unable to attend, here is a summary of what you missed. PDF versions of the presentations are available to members who have logged in.

Candace Vickers, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, of Chapman University’s Communication Sciences and Disorders Program and of St. Jude Medical Center and Centers for Rehabilitation and Wellness gave a talk entitled "Introduction to Constraint Induced Language Treatment for persons with aphasia: Applications for inpatient and outpatient settings." Dr. Vickers described therapeutic procedures of Constraint Induced Language Treatment (CILT), presented the evidence for the usefulness of CILT in both inpatient and outpatient settings, described potential candidates for CILT, identified assessment measures that may capture changes in language performance brought about by CILT, and described how CILT might be used in the attendee’s own settings.

Downloadable PDF of presentation (2 MB): Please login

Ana Solodkin, PhD, of the University of California, Irvine Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, gave a talk entitled "Effects of a novel therapy for hand motor recovery after stroke: What network analysis can tell us about brain plasticity." Dr. Solodkin’s lecture covered a review of the physiology of the mirror motor system in the context of rehabilitation, an explanation of new MRI analytical approaches applied to clinical problems, and discussed the implications of network analysis and the potential of a new experimental therapy for hand motor recovery after stroke.

Downloadable PDF of presentation (11 MB): Please login

Walt Scacchi, PhD, of the University of California, Irvine Institute for Software Research, Information and Computer Science Department, gave a talk entitled "Understanding the Potential of Computer Games and Virtual Worlds to Enable New Modalities of Rehabilitation and Health Care." Dr. Scacchi presented a review of recent advances in the development and uses of computer games and related technologies to support physical and occupational therapy applications. This included: a review of available games and game play devices and how they can be used in therapy applications; a discussion of low-cost, commercially available computer games that have been used for these purposes, as well as their comparative advantages and disadvantages; a description of recent research studies and advances that focus on the development of new game play modalities, including the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Kinect and experimental low-cost devices to provide intrinsically motivating game play that can be guided/directed to improve therapeutic outcomes; and lastly, a description of computer game and virtual world applications in other areas of health care and how they can give rise to new applications in physical and occupational therapies.

Downloadable PDF of presentation (1 MB): Please login

We will be having our third annual OCSRN “Stroke Awareness” picnic in May, which is Stroke Awareness Month.  Details will be announced at a later date.  We hope to see you there!

Regards,

Steve Cramer, MD

Lucy Der-Yeghiaian, MA, OTR/L Dept. Neurology, University of California, Irvine

Alison McKenzie, PT, Ph.D.

Dept. of Physical Therapy, Chapman University