Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

The lifetime risk of stroke is 1 in 5 after the age of 55 and 70% of these individuals will experience difficulties using their arms and hands. Even though they have the ability, many people do not use their affected arm and hand because they learn to compensate with their less affected side. Decreased arm use has been associated with weakened muscles, pain, osteoporosis and decreased quality of life. My research focuses on the measurement and facilitation of upper limb use following a stroke. I am particularly interested in the use of technology to measure and facilitate increased arm use and have designed a study that measures whether information from a wearable device can facilitate increased arm use. Information from this study can lead to better treatments for the upper limb and potentially decrease the harmful effects associated with not using the arm and hand.