Purpose of the Work. A robotic exercise device has been developed (MIT-Manus) and shown in a research setting to be capable of providing therapy to the arm of patients with weakness due to stroke, which simulates a conventional therapy known as skateboard therapy. We evaluated whether this robot-assisted task-specific therapy could also improve motor function in stroke patients with continuous,...

Clinical registries have systematically shown that routine clinical practice deals with sicker patients and faces higher morbidity and mortality than the artificial environment of strictly defined randomized-controlled trials might otherwise suggest. The series of Terkelsen et al., in the present issue of the European Heart Journal, focuses on a cohort of 654 patients, representing all patients...

Of the 23.8 million military veterans living in the United States, approximately 3 million have served in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. The injuries and illnesses that affect veterans returning from combat are predictable. Blast injuries are common and most often present as mild traumatic brain injury, which is synonymous with concussion. Family physicians caring for re...

Purpose of the Work . Low back pain is a costly and often seriously disabling condition that affects people of all ages . Lumbar supports are frequently used in the management of low back pain. However, the mechanisms by which lumbar supports influence low back problems remain a subject of debate . To determine the degree of changes in the lumbar region, our purpose was to quantify three-dimens...

With the return of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, increasing numbers of civilian behavioral health providers are treating veterans and their families for service-related conditions. However, little is known about civilian providers' capacity to meet the needs of this population. A statewide needs assessment of 1,665 clinicians examined their screening/referral practices, knowledge and confid...

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) operates the largest integrated health care system in the world (VA, 1989), with designated departments and programs designed to meet the long-term care needs of the aging veteran. Occupational therapy is an important intervention to maximize the quality of life of older persons. Because of the increasing number of aging veterans and the national shortage ...

LAY SUMMARY Previous research has shown that partners of Veterans with mental health difficulties can often struggle their own when supporting the Veteran. Despite this, many couples choose to remain in a relationship. The authors wanted know whether there are any positive aspects being relationship Veteran and have role play difficulties. Using semi-structured interviews, interviewer asked six...

Purpose of Work . The aim of this project was to describe the progression of healing of foot wounds using total contact casting and to evaluate potential factors that might prolong that healing . Subjects/ Procedures . We enrolled 25 persons with foot wounds and casted them until healing using the total contact cast, which is a special type of casting that uses minimal padding in an effort to s...