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Pushing Boundaries in Stroke Rehabilitation
Dr. Robert Teasell is an international leader in stroke rehabilitation research. Now his legacy will continue with the introduction of a new fellowship in his honour.
Dr. Robert Teasell remembers visiting veterans in the large open wards at the old Westminster Hospital when he was a medical student.
“The most popular person was a lady who went around twice a day and handed out free cigarettes,” he says with a laugh, “Times have changed!” They certainly have, and Dr. Teasell’s illustrious career in stroke rehabilitation at St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s) has contributed significantly to those health care changes. He is considered the “godfather of stroke rehabilitation in Canada,” says Dr. Keith Sequeira, Interim Chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in London. It’s a legacy now inspiring others to make their own mark in stroke research and care with the creation of the Dr. Robert Teasell Fellowship in Stroke Rehabilitation Care & Research.
Dr. Teasell began his career at University
Hospital (UH), a leading neurology hospital now part of London Health Sciences Centre. Alongside advances in acute care at UH, stroke rehabilitation began to change. With this shift, UH became one of the first centres to create a team to treat patients after stroke. In the late 1990s the Ontario government developed a comprehensive stroke strategy and Dr. Teasell played a key role in the group assigned to improve and standardize stroke rehabilitation, and establish outcome measures.
In 2001, as part of health care restructuring in London, Dr. Teasell, then Chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, led the process of consolidating the city’s four stroke rehabilitation units into one, which was then relocated to Parkwood Hospital (now St. Joseph’s Parkwood Institute). In 2002, he and his team produced the first Stroke Rehabilitation Evidence-Based Review (SREBR), a comprehensive analysis of existing research data with implications for patient care. The study shone a light on key principles that Dr. Teasell calls the “Big Five” – essential elements of rehabilitation that make the biggest difference. They call for stroke therapy that is specialized, intense, task-specific, provided quickly after a stroke, and continued on an outpatient basis. With these ground-breaking findings and Dr. Teasell’s expert guidance, Parkwood Institute made a major investment in outpatient post-stroke therapy to support the new, specialized stroke rehabilitation inpatient unit.
Dr. Jamie Fleet
is the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Robert Teasell Fellowship in Stroke Rehabilitation Care & Research, awarded to a scientist who is carving a promising new path in the field of stroke rehabilitation.
Dr. Bob Teasell
at St. Joseph’s Health Care London is considered the godfather of stroke rehabilitation having made significant contributions to the field of stroke rehabilitation over the course of his illustrious career.
While unique at the time, outpatient therapy soon became a standard of care. In 2009, the team developed the community stroke rehabilitation teams in conjunction with the South West Local Health Integration Network. “Introducing outpatient therapy resulted in significant changes in outcomes and reduced costs for patients and the system,” says Dr. Teasell. Today, Dr. Teasell and his team are focused on the future of stroke rehabilitation. Enthused as ever, he predicts “a second transformation in stroke rehabilitation” is on the horizon.
With more than 375 peer-reviewed articles, 22 book chapters, and 60 monographs, Dr. Teasell’s contributions to research and patient care are exceptional. Equally important has been his mentorship of a new generation of rehabilitation scientists. He believes in hiring motivated people, giving them top billing on publications, and fostering collaboration.
To honour Dr. Teasell’s dedication to ensure a future generation of committed scientists and his many contributions to the field of stroke rehabilitation, St. Joseph’s and St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation have partnered to create the fellowship in his name, which will provide salary and research support to a promising young researcher. Dr. Jamie Fleet is such a researcher. With a focus on bone health and stroke, she is the inaugural Teasell Fellow. Her goal is to build a more complete understanding of bone health after stroke, identify gaps in screening and treatment, and study the safety and efficacy of potential treatments. Dr. Fleet is also working to shed light on the effect of aerobic exercise on brain activation and fatigue levels after a stroke, and to identify and address potential barriers to exercise recommendations.
“This will be huge for the future of stroke rehab research and patient care outcomes,” says Dr. Sequeira of the fellowship. “It will ensure our patients continue to receive the best quality of care.”
– DR KEITH SEQUEIRA
A Passion For OurPast Artifacts displayed at St. Joseph's Hospital each tell a story, as do the efforts taken to preserve them. The exhibit changes regularly to highlight the hospital’s fascinating history.
The history of St. Joseph’s Hospital is rich with more than 130 years of compassionate care, innovative research and teaching the next generation of care providers. This illustrious legacy is almost palpable within the halls and care areas, and tangible in the artifacts on display in the hospital’s heritage exhibit space. Here, the St. Joseph’s Hospital and Nursing School Artifact Collection is showcased to bring the past to life. From needle-sharpening stones to portable electrocardiographs, the collection highlights the painstaking and pioneering efforts of St. Joseph’s physicians, scientists and nurses to put their patients first. Among the items hinting at bygone times is a complicated metal intubation set (circa 1915), which required assembly and sterilization prior and after use, and a 1930s drying oven used to remove moisture from chemicals during the lengthy process of medication preparation. The laborious efforts to ensure the wellbeing of the sick are evident not only in the artifacts, but in the care taken with these intriguing items and their stories. “There have always been people interested in preserving the history of St. Joseph’s over the decades,” says Noelle Tangredi, an eLearning developer and graphic designer with Organizational Development and Learning Services at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. “I happened to find out about boxes full of artifacts in storage and made it my mission to get them organized and have a way to share them with the staff and community.” Noelle and a few other employees – now retired – worked to get an exhibit space approved and display cabinets purchased, as well as a proper storage and workspace for the collection. The first exhibit opened in April 2016 and since then, Noelle, a long-time employee, has become the sole caretaker of the collection.
A voluntary labour of love born of a passion for preserving the past, Noelle often works on the collection outside of work hours.
A note on the back of a framed print speaks of a young patient’s battle with strep throat and rheumatic fever after being admitted in 1936 to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where she spent nearly a year recovering.
She receives invaluable assistance from Mary Kosta, Congregational Archivist for the Congregation of The Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada, along with Mary’s practicum students, to clean, catalogue, photograph, research and properly store the artifacts. Since older documents and photographs require a special environment to be maintained, they become part of the congregation archives. The rest of the artifact collection is housed in a storage room at St. Joseph’s Hospital, which also contains a work area. A few times a year, Noelle curates an exhibit using the artifacts and research for her inspiration. “Our collection only contains artifacts that have a direct connection to St. Joseph’s Hospital or St. Joseph’s Nursing School,” explains Noelle. “Many of the collection items come from donations from the community, but some come from our Environmental Services or Facilities Management teams having found things left behind in treatment rooms or offices.”
Not all artifacts are care or research tools. The collection also features a set of postcards and notes from former patients and residents of St. Joseph’s Hospital from the first half of the 20th century.
A note on the back of a framed print speaks of a young patient’s harrowing battle with illness in the hospital prior to World War II. The patient was only 10 years old when she was admitted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in 1936 for strep throat and rheumatic fever. She spent nearly a year recovering at the hospital under the care of Dr. Hubert Loughlin, a well-respected paediatrician who would later serve as Chief of Paediatrics from 1948 to 1963. The patient's sentiments about her illness and her “year spent in bed” are noted in ink. “A terrible experience for a 10-year-old. Missed a lot of school, which I loved. Perhaps made me a special person, as I came through it all.” Those coming to St. Joseph’s Hospital for a medical appointment are invited to view the history of St. Joseph’s on display while they are in the building. The exhibit space can be found in Zone A, Level 1, off the main corridor closest to Richmond Street.
Have you uncovered any intriguing artifacts or stories related to the history of St. Joseph’s Hospital or the St. Joseph’s Nursing School in London? Interested in donating to the collection? Please email Noelle.Tangredi@sjhc.london.on.ca.
Noelle Tangredi,
volunteer keeper of the historical artifacts at St. Joseph's Hospital, shows off the microscope that belonged to Dr. Frederick Luney, who set up the hospital's first pathology and biochemistry lab in 1927.
St. Joseph’s Health Care London provides care through a unique mix of clinical settings – making us one of the most complex health care organizations in Ontario. In a continual effort to bring the best care possible to those we serve, we constantly engage patients and their families, leaders, physicians, staff, volunteers, donors and many partners to ensure St. Joseph’s takes innovative steps in addressing the health care needs of our community, now and in the future.
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