Balance Interventions to Improve Upright Balance Control and Balance Confidence in People With Motor-Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury or Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objectives: To assist with clinical decision making, evidence syntheses are needed to demonstrate the efficacy of available interventions and examine the intervention components and dosage parameters. This systematic review and meta-analysis described the efficacy, components and dosage of interventions targeting upright balance control, balance confidence, and/or falls in adults with motor-incomplete spinal cord injury/disease (SCI/D).

Data Sources: A search strategy following the population, intervention, control, outcome framework was developed.

Implementing Activity-Based Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation in Canada: Challenges and Proposed Solutions.

Activity-based therapy (ABT) is a therapeutic approach with multiple benefits including promoting neurorecovery and reducing the likelihood of secondary complications in people living with spinal cord injury (SCI). Barriers and facilitators to ABT implementation for SCI rehabilitation have been studied from various perspectives through qualitative research. However, these viewpoints have not been synthesized to identify challenges of and strategies for implementing ABT across the Canadian healthcare system.

Scoping Review on Brain-Computer Interface-Controlled Electrical Stimulation Interventions for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Adults: A Look at Participants, Interventions, and Technology.

Purpose: While current rehabilitation practice for improving arm and hand function relies on physical/occupational therapy, a growing body of research evaluates the effects of technology-enhanced rehabilitation. We review interventions that combine a brain-computer interface (BCI) with electrical stimulation (ES) for upper limb movement rehabilitation to summarize the evidence on (1) populations of study participants, (2) BCI-ES interventions, and (3) the BCI-ES systems.

Method: After searching seven databases, two reviewers identified 23 eligible studies.

Identifying priorities for balance interventions through a participatory co-design approach with end-users.

Background: Most individuals living with spinal cord injuries/diseases (SCI/D) or stroke experience at least one fall each year; hence, the development of interventions and technologies that target balance control is needed. The purpose of this study was to identify and explore the priorities for balance-focused interventions and technologies from the perspectives of end-users to assist with the design of an intervention that combines functional electrical stimulation (FES) with visual feedback training for standing balance.

Methods: Two individuals with SCI/D, one individual with stroke, two physical therapists (PT) and one hospital administrator were recruited.

Technology used in activity based therapy for individuals living with spinal cord injury across Canada.

Study Design: Cross-sectional equipment inventory.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to describe the equipment used in activity-based therapy (ABT) programs for individuals with spinal cord injury or disorder (SCI/D) across Canada.

Settings: Publicly funded and private SCI/D care settings.

Therapists' perspectives on using brain-computer interface-triggered functional electrical stimulation therapy for individuals living with upper extremity paralysis: a qualitative case series study.

Background: Brain computer interface-triggered functional electrical stimulation therapy (BCI-FEST) has shown promise as a therapy to improve upper extremity function for individuals who have had a stroke or spinal cord injury. The next step is to determine whether BCI-FEST could be used clinically as part of broader therapy practice. To do this, we need to understand therapists' opinions on using the BCI-FEST and what limitations potentially exist.

Activity-based therapy for individuals with spinal cord injury/disease: perspectives of acute care therapists.

Study Design: An exploratory descriptive study was conducted.

Objective: To determine if and how occupational therapists (OTs) and physical therapists (PTs) in acute care hospital settings use activity-based therapy (ABT) and its associated technologies.

Setting: Acute care hospital settings in Canada.

Using activity-based therapy for individuals with spinal cord injury or disease: Interviews with physical and occupational therapists in rehabilitation hospitals.

Objective: To understand if and how physical therapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs) use activity-based therapy (ABT) and its associated technologies for the rehabilitation of individuals living with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D) in Canadian rehabilitation hospital settings.

Design: Qualitative study.

Setting: Through rehabilitation hospitals participating in the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry, we recruited licensed OTs and PTs to participate in focus groups.

Development of priorities for a Canadian strategy to advance activity-based therapies after spinal cord injury.

Study Design: Participatory design.

Objectives: Activity-based therapies (ABT) have physical and psychosocial benefits for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). A Canadian ABT summit was held to: (1) identify methods used in stroke rehabilitation that may be appropriate for SCI; (2) understand the current state of ABT activities in Canada; and (3) identify priorities for ABT research and care for the next five years.

Activity-based therapy in the community for individuals living with spinal cord injury or disease: qualitative interviews with clinicians.

Purpose: Activity-based therapy (ABT) is a restorative approach that promotes neurological recovery below the level of injury in individuals with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D). This study sought to understand how ABT and its associated technologies were being used in community-based facilities across Canada.

Methods: One to two participants from ten community-based ABT facilities completed a semi-structured interview that queried types of technologies or techniques used in ABT, and barriers and facilitators to providing ABT for individuals with SCI/D.

Brain-computer interface-triggered functional electrical stimulation therapy for rehabilitation of reaching and grasping after spinal cord injury: a feasibility study.

Study Design: Feasibility and preliminary clinical efficacy analysis in a single-arm interventional study.

Objectives: We developed a brain-computer interface-triggered functional electrical stimulation therapy (BCI-FEST) system for clinical application and conducted an interventional study to (1) assess its feasibility and (2) understand its potential clinical efficacy for the rehabilitation of reaching and grasping in individuals with sub-acute spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting: Spinal cord injury rehabilitation hospital-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-Lyndhurst Centre.

Personalized adapted locomotor training for an individual with sequelae of West Nile virus infection: a mixed-method case report.

West Nile virus (WNV) can have severe consequences, including encephalitis and paralysis. : To describe the benefits of intensive locomotor training (LT) for an individual with a previous WNV infection resulting in chronic paraplegia. : The patient, who became a wheelchair user following standard rehabilitation, began LT 3 years post infection.