Occupational therapy gets smart
June 29th 2011 15:16
More occupational therapists could soon be turning to iPads, iPhones and other smart technology to help patients recover from brain injury.
New Australian research has found smart technology and applications can help counteract memory loss, helping patients remember day to day tasks such as taking medication and attending appointments.
Researchers at Sydney’s Royal Rehabilitation Centre studied 42 people with brain injuries, mostly men with an average age of 35 years, over a three year period.
One group was given diaries while others were given personal digital assistants (PDAs) to record information along with an hour of one-on-one PDA training each week across an eight week period.
Occupational therapy professor leader Belinda Carr said the study found while diaries were useful in helping people improve their functional memory, smart technology was even better.
“When patients experience a brain injury, some have a memory span of as little as five minutes,” she said.
“This means they can have difficulty remembering to do everyday things…they face reduced levels of independence because many can’t remember names and faces or directions.
“That’s why we’ve found equipment like iPads, iPhones and PDA’s make such a difference, because they help patients remember.”
Ms Carr, who presented the research at the Occupational Therapy Australia Conference, said occupational therapists should make the most of developing technology.
“We’re finding the new technology like iPads and iPhones very exciting,” she said.
“There are many apps that we’re finding useful for these clients to help with their memory and planning difficulties.
“We found that the technology improved the client’s functional memory. The number and seriousness of memory failures improved,” she said.
“Importantly, the client’s caregivers reported lower frequency of forgetting after eight weeks training.”
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