Grant: Catalyst Grant: eHealth Innovations

People with chronic disabilities struggle with compliance to long-term treatment plans. Accessibility to rehabilitation is difficult for a large percentage of people due to difficulty with transportation or living in rural areas. There is a need for innovative treatments to address these issues. Our research goal is to develop therapeutic eHealth applications that will lead to better long-term health outcomes and cost-effective delivery systems for individuals with neurological disorders and the aging population. We have produced an innovative Telerehabilitation platform (TRP) that combines computer game-based exercises and electronic monitoring tools. Computer games have received considerable interest from researchers and clinicians as a model for learning a range of complex tasks and facilitating the transfer of skills to daily life activities. These emerging Telerehabilitation technologies have potential to improve clinical outcomes by making therapies and exercise more engaging, motivating and effective as well as increasing accessibility to treatment regardless of where they live. The research objective of the present study is to test the therapeutic effectiveness of the TRP delivered in the home compared to usual care delivered in an outpatient physical therapy clinic. For this purpose we will test the intervention in individuals with peripheral vestibular disorders with balance and gaze impairments causing blurred vision and dizziness. We believe motivation to perform tedious home programs can be improved with engaging, fun and interactive computer gaming as part of the rehabilitation process. Additionally we believe the TRP is a cost-effective way to deliver rehabilitation as it will streamline rehabilitation services by leveraging therapist time spent with clients and allow clients to practice at times that are more convenient for them. We expect this will produce significant and cost-effective outcomes in populations with chronic disabilities.