Happenings Canadian Researchers Develop Rehabilitation Self-Management Tool A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Research Institute have developed an online self-management program for individuals with lower-limb loss. Called the SelfManagement for Amputee Rehabilitation Using Technology (SMART) program, the tool provides education and supportive skills to manage health-related physical and psychological challenges. The SMART program comprises four stakeholder-informed modules, with 18 total sections. The content includes information on limb care, diet, fatigue, and energy, among other topics. The research team tested the program on a cohort of adults with lower-limb loss. Participants reviewed the modules during O&P CYBERSECURITY
Healthcare Data Breaches On the Rise
an online video conference session with an assessor. They were asked to complete 11 tasks, including entering the SMART program, setting goals, finding skin care, and reading the content of 10 sections. When participants were interviewed about their experiences, they generally found the program to be straightforward, easy to navigate, and accessible, but they noted some challenges with navigation, presentation, and language. The researchers are currently in the process of redesigning the program to address the usability issues, and plan to further explore the perceived usefulness of SMART. Details were published in June in Prosthetics and Orthotics International.
Visual Inputs Impact Balance Control Deficits Among Individuals With Transtibial Amputation
Between Jan. 1 and May 31, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services listed 244 electronic data breaches of healthcare organizations with at least 500 victims on its site. The figure for that same time period in 2021 was 137. SOURCE: HHS Breach Portal
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Individuals with transtibial amputation present a greater reliance on the intact lower limb, according to a team of researchers from Laval University and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration in Canada. The researchers conducted a biomechanical assessment of subjects with below-knee amputation during 30-second quiet standing tasks with their eyes open, and again with eyes closed. They calculated
mean trunk, hip, knee, and ankle angles, as well of center-of-pressure and center-of-mass excursions. The research team concluded that transtibial patients demonstrate greater ankle plantarflexion and anteroposterior and mediolateral center-of-pressure excursions for intact limbs compared with amputated limbs during quiet standing tasks. When subjects’ eyes were closed, both the amputee group and the control group exhibited greater mediolateral center-of-pressure excursions compared with eyes open, which suggests less postural stability, according to the researchers. “These differences may place them at greater risk of falling,” they noted. The study was published in April in Prosthetics and Orthotics International.
