Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Sunday, December 8, 2024

University of Utah researchers ask, can VR games help stroke patients?

 WOW!  You're that incompetent that you don't follow research? I'd have you all fired!

University of Utah researchers ask, can VR games help stroke patients?

A team from the university’s College of Health is exploring the economic impact of VR tools to shrink the gap in health care access

By Alixel Cabrera - Utah News Dispatch | Dec 6, 2024

Lynne Sladky, Associated Press

Tracy Hall, vice president of sales at Mynd Immersive, left, watches as Karen Audet, 82, right, reacts while wearing a virtual reality headset at John Knox Village, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, in Pompano Beach, Fla.

You may think about virtual reality devices as tools to navigate fictional spaces in video games, or maybe even, to enhance the experience of speaking with loved ones that are far away. But, as the technology evolves to become more ubiquitous, there’s a novel use that the University of Utah is exploring — therapy for those recovering from strokes.

A team from the University of Utah’s College of Health is working to determine whether leaving VR devices in patients’ rooms for additional motor practice can make a substantial enough change to justify the use of VR at home and at clinics, according to a news release.

While patients need hours of practice to improve their motor skills after a stroke, challenges in health care funding, access to services and lack of motivation don’t allow them to log the necessary amount of rehabilitation time, the release reads.

You may think about virtual reality devices as tools to navigate fictional spaces in video games, or maybe even, to enhance the experience of speaking with loved ones that are far away. But, as the technology evolves to become more ubiquitous, there’s a novel use that the University of Utah is exploring — therapy for those recovering from strokes.

A team from the University of Utah’s College of Health is working to determine whether leaving VR devices in patients’ rooms for additional motor practice can make a substantial enough change to justify the use of VR at home and at clinics, according to a news release.

While patients need hours of practice to improve their motor skills after a stroke, challenges in health care funding, access to services and lack of motivation don’t allow them to log the necessary amount of rehabilitation time, the release reads.

The U. has a five-year grant funded by the National Institutes of Health’s StrokeNet, which supports stroke-related research. This project is led by Lorie Richards, a University of Utah associate professor and chair of the Department of Occupational and Recreational Therapies.

“We have so much tech in our homes already and there’s nothing super fancy about these devices,” Richards said in the release. “It will connect to their TV with Wii-type controllers. It will cost something like a PlayStation and it’s likely that if we can show it’s effective, insurance may cover it in the future.”

Ultimately, the hope is that therapists are able to interact with patients through video calls, virtually offering assessments and treatment plants.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles conducted a study that showed that stroke patients’ “upper extremity function significantly improved when they completed an intensive home-based practice with VR devices,” according to the release. Now, the U. is taking over to explore the financial implications of the practice.

Telehealth may provide an opportunity for cheaper treatment and better outcomes for those who may not have access to rehabilitation therapy in a clinical setting, whether because of distance to rehabilitation centers or due to gaps in their health insurance coverage.

And, overall, a VR game is more fun than regular rehabilitation programs, which researchers assume could improve the motivation outcomes among patients.

But, first the university is proving whether this system works in addition to regular therapy sessions.

The plan is to recruit 202 stroke patients with substantial arm motor deficits. Some of them will be enrolled in an intensive virtual reality rehabilitation program for six weeks, in addition to regular care, while the others will remain in the current traditional setting.

One of the factors researchers will be watching, Richards said, is how much independence patients gain in daily tasks.

“Say I have a person who enters the study needing a lot of help dressing, but at the end they only need help with some fasteners,” she said. “They need significantly less help, and their feelings of independence significantly increase.”

However, some measurable indicators of change may not pick up important changes, Richards added. That’s why her team is widening the number of scales used to detect them.

“The more dependent stroke patients are, the more health care they need,” she said. “If we can reduce caregiver burden, we might decrease health care utilization as well.”

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