Commentary on “The Effect of Suit Wear During an Intensive Therapy Program in Children With Cerebral Palsy”

Cerebral palsy is a severe condition usually caused by decreased brain oxygenation during pregnancy, at birth or soon after birth. Conventional treatments for cerebral palsy are often tiresome and expensive, leading patients to quit treatment. In this paper, we describe a virtual environment for patients to engage in a playful therapeutic game for neuropsychomotor rehabilitation, based on the experience of the occupational therapy program of the Nucleus for Integrated Medical Assistance (NAMI) at the University of Fortaleza, Brazil. Integration between patient and virtual environment occurs through the hand motion sensor “Leap Motion,” plus the electroencephalographic sensor “MindWave,” responsible for measuring attention levels during task execution. To evaluate the virtual environment, eight clinical experts on cerebral palsy were subjected to a questionnaire regarding the potential of the experimental virtual environment to promote cognitive and motor rehabilitation, as well as the potential of the treatment to enhance risks and/or negatively influence the patient’s development. Based on the very positive appraisal of the experts, we propose that the experimental virtual environment is a promising alternative tool for the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy.

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Evaluating the outcome of an individual functional therapy program focused on children with cerebral palsy and cerebral visual impairment: a multiple case study

European Journal of Physiotherapy ◽

10.1080/21679169.2017.1374455 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 92-100

Author(s):

Masoud Salavati ◽

Eugene Rameckers ◽

Aly Waninge ◽

Wim Krijnen ◽

Cees van der Schans ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cerebral Palsy ◽

Visual Impairment ◽

Multiple Case Study ◽

Functional Therapy ◽

Therapy Program ◽

Children With Cerebral Palsy ◽

Multiple Case ◽

Cerebral Visual Impairment

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The effectiveness of tele-rehabilitation on improvement of daily living activities in children with cerebral palsy: narrative review

Bulletin of Faculty of Physical Therapy ◽

10.1186/s43161-021-00055-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad E. Tamboosi ◽

Safeer S. Al-Khathami ◽

Shamekh M. El-Shamy

Keyword(s):

Cerebral Palsy ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Daily Living ◽

Intensive Therapy ◽

Narrative Review ◽

Daily Living Activities ◽

Therapy Program ◽

Home Based ◽

Unilateral Cerebral Palsy ◽

And Performance

Abstract Aim To investigate the effectiveness of tele-rehabilitation for children diagnosed with unilateral cerebral palsy. Method The design of this study is a narrative review. An electronic search was conducted for studies that related to tele-rehabilitation using the following databases: CINAHL, PubMed, MEDLINE, OTSeeker, and PEDro. The data extracted were analyzed by evaluating them according to the key results, limitations, suitability of the methods used to the initial hypothesis, interpretation of the results, and impact of the conclusions in the field. Results Out of 139 studies, 3 studies met the inclusion criteria. Further, manual searches of the references of included studies identified 2 more relevant studies. The interventions applied in those studies were web-based multi-modal therapy program using Move-it-to-improve-it (Mitii™), home-based hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy (H-HABIT), and lower-extremity functional training (LIFT). The outcomes were executive functions, occupational performance, activity capacity, dexterity, quality of bimanual hand-use, functional goals, gait capacity, and performance. Conclusion Tele-rehabilitation is effective in improving the functions of the upper and lower extremities in daily living activities for children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP), aged between 2 to 18 years old, classified to levels I and II in GMFCS and levels I, II, and III in MACS. Webcam and good internet connection are essential requirements to conduct tele-rehabilitation. Children need to be contacted weekly via phone or e-mail for further follow-ups. Additionally, tele-rehabilitation may be considered one of the intervention strategies for patients who live in rural areas.

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