SIMbL Toronto

Today, Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Edinburgh visited @UHN’s Toronto Rehab & KITE Research Institute where Here Royal Highness participated in The Movement Evaluation Lab, that aims to improve the control of movement and mobility. @TorontoRehab @KITE_UHN @RoyalFamily

It was great to have the Duchess of Edinburgh visit our lab and experience some reactive balance training with Cynthia!

The Duchess of Edinburgh tests out a reactive balance training frame and harnass for stroke and brain injury patients in the movement evaluation lab at @UHN during her trip to Ontario @uhnfoundation @KITE_UHN

Our new article on reliability of quiet standing balance measures post-stroke is now available - free access for 50 days! authors.elsevier.com/a/1gsOg3RoQ8il… @AvrilMansfield @davidjagroop_ @AryanRabea

Rather than focus on avoiding tumbles, researchers at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute are using high-tech, hands-on trials to teach how to fall. #Opinion by @CathrinBradbury trib.al/DFIFyT7

Can't thank Susan and Roger enough for all they do to keep our research running smoothly!

If you're interested in trying reactive balance training in your practice, our clinical toolkit has everything you need! kite-uhn.com/tools/rebal

Publication alert! Updated systematic review of reactive balance training, showing significantly reduced fall risk and rates compared to control interventions #PreventFallsCA academic.oup.com/ptj/advance-ar…

Great talks and lively discussion on clinical application of reactive balance training @AvrilMansfield @DrSturnieks @OkuboYoshiro

Can reactive balance training improve muscle strength and cardio respiratory fitness? @augustinejoshua has the answers! #ISPGR2022

Check out @Azadeh_Barzideh this morning presenting data on muscle strength and reactive balance control post-stroke #ISPGR2022

Specifically, lower extremity pain, injuries, and fear/anxiety seemed to be more frequent for reactive balance training than controls. Emphasizes the need to do training in a safe way & build trust between the therapist and client

From 14 studies, fall risk was reduced by ~25% and fall rates reduced by ~60% for reactive balance training compared to control participants. Adverse events were higher for reactive balance training compared to controls

New preprint! Updated systematic review and meta-analysis of reactive balance training, falls in daily life, and adverse events: doi.org/10.1101/2022.0… With @augustinejoshua @KyleFarwell @davidjagroop_ @AryanRabea @Tyler_Saumur @AvrilMansfield

We've been discussing ways to better promote our work/selves in our team recently. Does anyone have thoughts to share, particularly for those who are introverts or culturally disinclined to be seen as 'tall poppies'

Surprisingly, participants often did not use standardized tools to assess reactive balance control before training, highlighting the need to increase awareness of tools like the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (@kmsibley!)

We also found that participants were creative in terms of providing perturbations for reactive balance training in practice, without needing any specialized equipment

Our new paper on clinician perspectives of reactive balance training is now out! Led by @davidjagroop_, with Stephanie Houvardas, Cynthia Danells, Jennifer Kochanowski, Esmé French, @nancysalbach @scimobilitylab @elizinness & @AvrilMansfield tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

Our toolkit focuses on 'manual' perturbations, that don't need any equipment. Some researchers and clinics use devices like special treadmills or walkways that cause slips or trips. You might also find these devices helpful for reactive balance training

External perturbations are when there is some external force, from a therapist or device, that causes the loss of balance. In this case, the therapist removes force (i.e., support), so the client starts to fall

How do you provide balance perturbations in reactive balance training? Our new toolkit has lots of information about this, including video demonstrations! kite-uhn.com/tools/rebal We generally classify perturbations as either internal or external