Five years of rehab research
St. John’s Rehab research knows…
SARs survivors still experience psychological symptoms seven years after infection.
Electrical injury survivors can experience long-term neurological dysfunctions, even if they look perfectly healthy.
Teaching stroke patients problem-solving strategies can help them overcome challenges they may face in the real world.
Regular psychological screening tests can help identify anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress in trauma patients before the feelings take over their lives.
Rehabilitation helps organ transplant recipients and cancer survivors improve their quality of life and independence.
A two-minute walk test can be just as effective, but less taxing on patients than the traditional six-minute tests.
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can better participate in the activities of daily living after active rehab.
Providing therapy on the weekend helps to return more patients to improved independence.
Five years ago this September, St. John's Rehab launched its own rehabilitation research program that has since helped people around the world get back their lives.
For over a decade, St. John's Rehab has been involved in many practice-based research projects in partnerships with Toronto's leading acute care hospitals. The clinicians have contributed new knowledge in the treatment of burn, amputee and stroke patients. But, when the St. John's Rehab Research Program was launched in 2008, research became closely interwoven with everyday interdisciplinary clinical practice — examining and solving issues identified by patients themselves during the recovery process.
"After people survive an illness or injury, they still need to deal with the physical and mental consequences of that survival," says Dr. Manuel Gomez, Director of the St. John's Rehab Research Program. "By understanding the debilitating consequences and developing new and better ways to treat the injuries and their aftermath, we can help survivors get back their lives."
Over the years, St. John's Rehab researchers have discovered that many SARs survivors still experience psychological symptoms seven years after infection; that electrical injury survivors can experience long-term neurological dysfunctions, even if they look perfectly healthy; and that video games can be an effective, and fun, adjunct to traditional rehabilitative therapy.
Researchers are continuing to develop and evaluate new rehabilitation techniques for survivors of burns, strokes, organ transplants, cancer, traumatic injuries and orthopaedic conditions.
Learn more about rehabilitation research »
