Implementation of a Rehabilitation Technology in Orthopedic and Neurological Rehabilitation to Increase Therapy Dosage: an Exploratory Study

Implementation of a Rehabilitation Technology in Orthopedic and Neurological Rehabilitation to Increase Therapy Dosage: an Exploratory Study

Rehabilitation technology is more and more implemented in conventional therapy to increase the dosage of therapy and/or increase patient's motivation towards therapy. In orthopedic as well as neurological rehabilitation it is important to exercise with enough intensity and repetitions to improve functional performance in activities of daily life, and consequently quality of life. At the moment, not all (rehabilitation) technologies are adapted towards the wishes and needs of both patients and therapists for everyday use in the clinical setting. Also, not all technologies are fit for independent use by the patients. Researcher of PXL have developed a Kinect-based system (i.e. i-ACT) for rehabilitation and performed supervised research with i-ACT in neurological and musculoskeletal rehabilitation, and older adults. Within this research, patients will exercise with i-ACT under supervision of their therapist during weekdays, but in the weekends they will be motivated by the medical staff to perform their exercises with i-ACT. The medical staff will be present for safety reasons, but the patient is asked to use and exercise with i-ACT as independent as possible. The aim of this research is to explore to which extend i-ACT is suitable for semi-independent use by patients in orthopedic or neurological rehabilitation.

Inclusion Criteria:

• age over 18 years old
• post-operation of arthroplasty (hip or knee), or official medical diagnosis of stroke or Parkinson's disease
• understand Dutch instructions
• patient at St-Trudo ziekenhuis
• experiencing problems in functional performance

Exclusion Criteria:

• neglect
• spasticity (Brunström Fugl-Meyer < 50)
• cognitive disfunction (Mini Mental State Examination < 24)
• visual impairment (blind, cataract, etc.)
• persons who are not able to exit electric wheelchair