Therapists’ perspectives on a new portable hand telerehabilitation platform for home-based personalized treatment of stroke patients

A. Maddahi, J. Bani Hani, A. Asgari, A.M. Nassiri, M.-A. Choukou

Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg (MB), Canada. Amine.Choukou@Umanitoba.ca

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• Telemedicine

OBJECTIVE: Patients who have sustained a stroke suffer from residual motor impairments. Stroke can limit their ability to employ their impaired upper limb properly. Hand function is particularly one of the most frequently persisting consequences of stroke. This paper introduces a new portable hand telerehabilitation platform (PHTP) for home-based personalized treatment of stroke patients. The aims of this study are (1) to document the iterative design and development process of the PHTP, and (2) to explore the therapists’ perspectives on implementing home-based treatment of stroke patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Local therapists were involved early in designing and developing the PHTP. We collected views of 84 therapists practicing in North America via an online survey.

RESULTS: Therapists’ perspectives on the introduced prototype support the use of the PHTP to provide home-based telerehabilitation for stroke patients. The System Usability Scale score was 70 for the PHTP, indicating that the platform is usable. The rest of the qualitative results obtained from custom questionnaires showed consistency in the platform design, high perceived usability and good acceptability among the therapists’ community.

CONCLUSIONS: In sum, the results encourage and support fine-tuning of the PHTP, commercializing it, and conducting prospective clinical studies.

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