Grant: Foundation Grant

<html> <body> <p> <strong><u>Program Vision</u></strong><strong>:</strong> As a result of devastating motor-sensory deficits, stroke patients spend most of their time during rehabilitation focused on regaining arm and leg mobility. Despite these gains, we have shown that arm and leg use after traditional rehabilitation declines dramatically after returning home. <strong><em>My overarching vision is to enable health and independence in stroke survivors by devising and implementing innovative self-management tools to enhance recovery, and ensure that functional gains are maximized and maintained to optimize long-term outcomes</em></strong><em>.</em> </p> <p>My <u>goal</u> is to optimize motor recovery by incorporating principles of self-management with a strong focus on empowering patients, mutual goal-setting and self-monitoring by the patient and family/caregivers. Activities from my <u>three&nbsp;current CIHR Open Operating grants</u> (all held as Nominated Principal Investigator (PI), with two just awarded) provide the foundation for my goal.<br> <br> <strong>Objective 1</strong>: Develop interventions to motivate arm and leg use after stroke, utilizing behavioural change strategies to determine whether:<br> 1a) A novel telehealth program can improve daily physical activity (and hence leg and mobility function) and reduce secondary complications and health care utilization after stroke; and<br> 1b) A telehealth-supported self-managed arm and hand program can improve upper extremity functional outcomes.</p> <p> <strong>Objective 2</strong>: Develop and validate wearable sensor technologies to improve therapist&rsquo;s ability to monitor and progress exercise; and facilitate patient self-monitoring within a self-management approach to improve physical activity or upper extremity function. Specifically, we will develop:<br> 2a) An Arm Rehabilitation Monitor to count arm and hand motions and<br> 2b) A Slow Step Sensor Monitor to record steps when walking slow.<br> These wearable sensors will enhance future iterations of studies to achieve objective 1.<br> <br> <strong><u>Team and Partnerships</u></strong><strong>:</strong> I will continue to use an integrated KT model and implement and disseminate my interventions worldwide through publications, user manuals, websites and conferences. My research will be informed by knowledge users, as well as Program Experts in telehealth, engineering, biostatistics, health economics, psychology and medicine. My location at the GF Strong Rehab Centre, the largest rehab centre in BC, has enabled me to establish partnerships locally, with all five BC Health Authorities, as well as nationally and abroad.<br> <br> <strong><u>Training Activities</u></strong><strong>:</strong> I will support the career pathways of trainees and junior researchers via my roles as 1) Director, Rehab Research Program, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute; 2) Team Leader with expected new training of 10 PhDs, 5 post-doctoral fellows, and 15 undergraduates over the 7-year period; and 3) senior mentor and collaborator of 10 clinicians and 8 junior faculty.<br> <br> <strong><u>Impact of Research</u></strong>: My Foundation research program will result in the development and implementation of new evidence-based telehealth self-management programs and innovative wearable sensor technologies. Use of these novel approaches and technologies will improve the health of a large number of Canadians living with stroke in both urban and rural regions, and will ultimately reduce health-care costs. Furthermore, stroke serves as a model of a complex chronic disease, and therefore these results will have application to other disease populations.</p> </body> </html>