Constrained Induced Therapy for Stroke Patients
Contact: For more information, please contact Kevin M. Sanders, writer/editor, at (740) 593-0896.
ATHENS, Ohio (December 14, 2000) -- Some stroke patients who suffer from paralysis do not have to live the remainder of their lives restricted to activities that accommodate the paralysis. Constrained induced therapy, which involves binding (constraining) the unaffected (uninvolved with the stroke-induced paralysis) parts of the body, is employed by physical therapists to help patients regain use of the involved side in everyday living. Averell Overby, Dr.P.H., OU associate professor and director of the School of Physical Therapy, will examine this subject in "Constrained Induced Therapy After Stroke," a seminar for health-care professionals, on Dec. 18, noon to 1 p.m., at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, Rm. B-9.
"Constraint-induced therapy has had fairly good success with rehabilitation of the upper body," said Overby. "It also is used to combat the problem of 'learned disuse' in persons who have had a stroke." This therapy has also helped stroke victims regain use of affected parts of the body faster than if both unaffected and affected parts are used during therapy. All health-care professionals are invited to attend the seminar. Brown bags are welcome. For more information, call the Geriatric Education Center at (740) 593-2258.
This seminar is part of OU-COM's winter 2000 continuing education series on geriatric medicine and gerontology. Seminars are held from noon to 1:00 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of each month at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, Rm. B-9. Continuing education credit may be awarded for each entire program attended. Continuing education credit has been approved for nurses, social workers and counselors for the Dec. 18 program.
Winter seminars began Dec. 4 with Caroline Gibson's presentation of "Occupational Therapy and the Older Adult."
The normally scheduled seminars that would be held on Jan. 1 and Jan. 15 are canceled due to holidays. Remaining seminars scheduled are "Normal Aging: A Practical Overview" on Feb. 5, 2001 by Allison Batchelor, M.D., and "The Role of Physical Therapy in Chronic Wound Management" on Feb. 19, 2001 by Betty Willy.
"The seminars are designed for an interdisciplinary audience," said Peterson. "Health professionals from the community regularly attend, in addition to interns, residents and medical students. The diversity of disciplines represented by the participants makes for an interesting exchange of ideas." The sponsors of the seminars include the Department of Geriatric Medicine/ Gerontology, the Western Reserve Geriatric Education Center and the Area Health Education Center/Consortium for Health Education in Appalachia Ohio and OU-COM.
Peterson said the seminar series was started by a federal grant that established OU-COM as a contributing site to the Western Reserve Geriatric Education Center in September 1994 and has supported many continuing education programs. Provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, the grant supports educational programs in geriatrics and gerontology for physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors and health-care providers to 22 Southeastern Ohio counties.
