George Institute researchers use modern technologies in stroke rehabilitation

The Institute’s innovative AMOUNT trial is investigating the use of modern technology as a treatment tool for stroke patients, as well as those who have suffered from heart attack and brain injury.

The program, currently implemented at Bankstown Hospital, in Sydney’s west, uses of a range of gaming technologies and stepping tiles to improve rate of recovery and independence after stroke and brain injury.

The ABC has featured George Institute Australia researchers Professor Cathie Sherrington and Dr Leanne Hassett to explore the difference the AMOUNT trial can make to patients during the rehabilitation process.

"There's quite a lot of diversity in the range of problems that people experience after a stroke or a brain injury," Lead Author Professor Sherrington said.

"So it's likely that different technologies will be more suited to different individuals."

Dr Leanne Hassett, a Research Fellow at the George Institute, said that some of the games include those that are available on the commercial market such as Xbox and Nintendo Wii.

"Then we have some that have been developed specifically for rehabilitation that are a similar sort of 'exer-gaming' type technologies," she said.

"And then we have a stepping tile system which was developed specifically for the trial."

Dr Hassett said rehabilitation is a long and often difficult task, but the more practice patients do, the better the outcomes.

"It's really difficult for patients to do lots of practice and to keep standing up and sitting down ... doing multiple repetitions."

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World-leading physiotherapy online resource celebrates 15 years

PEDro, the world-leading Physiotherapy Evidence Database, was featured at the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) Congress in Singapore on 1-4 May this year.

PEDro recently celebrated 15 years of being the largest physiotherapy specific evidence resource, containing 30,000+ reports of guidelines, reviews and trials.

PEDro Manager Anne Moseley of The George Institute for Global Health and the University of Sydney said “The Congress was a great way to share PEDro with physiotherapists world-wide.

“We are proud to say that PEDro is used in over 200 countries and has answered 13-million clinical questions in the last 15 years.

“One of the best things about PEDro is that is it a FREE online resource that helps the global physiotherapy community stay informed about the latest physiotherapy evidence.”

PEDro is used in physiotherapy practice, education and research.

To give rapid access to high-quality clinical research about the effects of physiotherapy interventions, PEDro only indexes research reports which use the best methods for evaluating intervention, specifically evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, systematic reviews, and randomised controlled trials.

“This is really useful for clinicians, as guidelines synthesise the evidence for the management of a health condition and provide clear recommendations to guide decisions about appropriate health care” Anne Moseley said.

PEDro is a WCPT partner and is kept up-to-date because of the generosity of WCPT Member Organisations. PEDro is supported by the Australian Physiotherapy Association (Foundation Partner), the American Physical Therapy Association (Major Partner), the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (Partner), and the WCPT Member Organisation from 37 other countries (Association Partners).

PEDro (http://www.pedro.org.au/) is:

  • Free to anyone with internet access
  • Indexes reports of > 30,000 guidelines, trials and reviews
  • All trial reports are rated for quality using the PEDro scale to quickly guide users to trials which are more likely to be valid and contain sufficient information to guide clinical practice
  • Home-page available in 11 languages in order to breakdown barriers to accessing evidence
  • Monthly updates provide rapid access to high-quality evidence in each area of physiotherapy

Follow PEDro on Facebook at PhysiotherapyEvidenceDatabase.PEDro and on Twitter @PEDro_CEBP

Research Fellow Kate Hunter: Committed to injury prevention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

Kate Hunter is a Senior Research Fellow in the Injury Division at The George Institute, has over ten years’ experience in injury prevention research and has produced several reports and guidelines for government and non-government organisations. Kate is a recipient of a Poche Centre for Indigenous Health Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.

Utilization of major surgery in South India

Media release

In an effort to bridge the information gap in utilization of major surgery in India, the George Institute for Global Health has audited hospital claims from the Rajiv Gandhi Aarogyasri Community Health Insurance Scheme (RACHIS) that provides access to free tertiary care for major surgery through state funded insurance to 68 million beneficiaries with limited household incomes, 81% of population in states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. 

Daily Adult Salt Intake Reaches 15.2 Grams in Beijing: 40% is from Eating Out

Media release

A study carried out in urban Beijing and nearby rural areas showed that adult residents’ average daily salt intake was as high as 15.2 grams. The study demonstrated that 39.5% of salt intake came from eating out, and 90% of the whole intake was from cooking salt. The study result was published in the medical journal Nutrients recently and is available on line with open access.

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