Rehab Impact Report 2010-2011

Page | 1Rehab Impact Report

A Year in Review for the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine

REHAB IMPACT REPORT:

2010 - 2011

Rehab Impact ReportPage | 2

• Innovative Teaching and Clinical Education • Focused World-Class Research• Community Awareness and Engagement • Global Partnerships

VisionMission

Cornerstones

To be at the forefront of knowledge generation and scholarship in rehabilitation.

Through excellent teaching, research and service to the community, the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine is committed to enhancing quality of life, promoting participation and autonomy, and improving function for citizens of Alberta and beyond.

Dean: Dr. Martin Ferguson-PellAssociate Dean, Graduate Studies & Research: Dr. Joanne VoldenAssociate Dean, Professional Programs & Teaching: Dr. Liz TaylorAssistant Dean, External Relations & Administration: Anita YatesChair, Physical Therapy: Dr. Robert HaennelChair, Occupational Therapy: Dr. Lili LiuChair, Speech Pathology & Audiology: Dr. Karen Pollock

Managing Editor: Laurie WangCopy Editor: Keri ScobieWriting: Holly Gray, Gen Handley, Gregory Kennedy, Laurie Wang, Ian WeetmanPhotography: Jimmy Jeong Design: Radius Creative

Rehab Impact Report is published annually by the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. It’s distributed to more than 6,000 alumni, universities, government bodies, organizations and friends of the Faculty.

Communications & External RelationsFaculty of Rehabilitation Medicine 3-48 Corbett HallUniversity of AlbertaEdmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G4T: 780.492.9403F: 780.492.1646E: [email protected]


MissionCornerstones

Managing Editor: Laurie WangCopy Editor: Keri ScobieWriting: Holly Gray, Gen Handley, Gregory Kennedy, Laurie Wang, Ian WeetmanPhotography: Jimmy Jeong Design: Radius Creative

I know it sounds a bit cliché, but I can confidently say “the world is the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine’s oyster” right now. This past year, we’ve taken on new adventures and initiatives, and we’ve seen our Faculty flourish. The Rehab Impact Report is our way of staying connected with stakeholders and sharing the exciting things happening here. It is also an opportunity for us to highlight our accomplishments over the past year and recognize the partnerships that made a difference in our work.

Dr. Linda Woodhouse, our new David Magee Endowed Chair in Musculoskeletal Clinical Research, took up her position this year. We established the Canadian Military and Veterans’ Chair in Clinical Rehabilitation, a first in Canada. We were a partner in Music in Motion, an evening of musical entertainment in support of bone and joint health care. The event raised more than $500,000 for bone and joint-related research in Alberta, with $172,000 to support bone and joint-related clinical research fellowships at the U of A. We are now home to the Alberta Centre on Aging. Our Rehab Robotics Lab and the Smart Condo initiative led by Dr. Lili Liu have been established in the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, and we continue to take part in interdisciplinary research, education and service. Stroke and dementia patients now get speech therapy in long-term care, thanks to a partnership with our speech department and Alberta Health Services (AHS), creating four speech-language pathology positions with AHS.

The Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine’s four cornerstones are: Innovative Teaching and Clinical Education, Focused World-Class Research, Community Awareness and Engagement, and Global Partnerships. In the past, we had an alumni magazine called Rehab Impact. Rehab Impact Report is much like the magazine but with a report back to the community on our growth and accountability to our four cornerstones and our strategic plan. We also continue to keep in touch through our free weekly e-newsletter, Rehab News Digest. Please contact [email protected] to subscribe.

Pursuing your best is a theme that drives all we do at the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, whether it is communication through speech-language pathology, participation and work through occupational therapy, or mobility and movement through physical therapy. As students, faculty, staff, alumni and stakeholders, you all play an important role in helping the Faculty achieve its strategic objectives, and I want to thank you for being valued members of our team and contributing to our success.

Martin Ferguson-Pell, PhDDeanFaculty of Rehabilitation MedicineUniversity of Alberta KEEP IN TOUCH

Dean’s Message

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The University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine is continuing to address the shortage of physical therapists in the province.

Starting in 2012, the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine’s Department of Physical Therapy will be accepting applications for its new satellite program in Calgary.

With funding from Alberta Advanced Education and Technology and space from the University of Calgary, southern Albertan students wanting to pursue a career in physical therapy will be able to study closer to home.

The classes will be conducted through the use of synchronized distance learning technology. Instructors based in Edmonton, Calgary or Camrose will be linked to the other sites via video conferencing equipment and supported by teaching assistants in each location.

“There’s a real need for physical therapists in Alberta,” says Dr. Bob Haennel, Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. “By using technology we are able to train more therapists in multiple sites across the province without it costing more. Further, students can now choose to study in one of the two largest urban centres or at our rural site in Camrose.”

Last year, the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine successfully launched its first satellite program at Augustana campus in Camrose.

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” says Kaitlan Braden, a second-year student at Augustana. “At first it was a little weird, but I got over that really quickly – the video and audio during lessons is really clear. I grew up in a rural community so I love that I can stay in one for school.”

Braden adds that the more intimate, smaller class sizes are something she enjoys as well.

“I’ve gotten to know my 10 classmates really well,” says Braden, who grew up in the small community of Bow Island, “and that’s made the experience even better.”

For more information, visit www.pt.ualberta.ca

Innovative Teaching and Clinical EducationInnovative learning and clinical education are at the crux of the student experience. Innovative teaching and learning is not just about setting up “high-tech” simulated clinical situations or using the latest technology. It is about enriching the student experience by providing the most effective learning environment. - Pursuing Your Best, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine Strategic Plan 2010-2014


Physical therapy without boundaries


AT A GLANCEThe Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine offers three professional-entry programs: MSc Physical Therapy, MSc Occupational Therapy and MSc Speech-Language Pathology; and two thesis-based programs: MSc Rehabilitation Science and PhD Rehabilitation Science.

MSc Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology in 2010-11:

339 OT + 461 PT + 162 SLP = 962 applicants

96 OT + 86 PT + 57 SLP = 239 students admitted

197 OT + 162 PT + 178 SLP = 537 students

740 OT + 400 PT + 266 SLP= 1206 preceptors (clinical educators)

500 OT + 490 PT + 328 SLP = 1,318 student placements

$478,117 in Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) Awards

$843,877 = total graduate student awards, scholarships and bursaries in Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Speech Pathology and Audiology (September 2010 to August 2011)


Here’s a riddle for you. What do oil patch roughnecks and millions of back pain sufferers have in common? The answer? Currently, not much. But that will soon change thanks to VibeDx, a revolutionary, non-invasive diagnostic device developed at the University of Alberta.

“In Alberta, we often tell people VibeDx is like seismic testing for the spine, but much more gentle!” explains inventor and company co-founder, Greg Kawchuk, PhD, and professor of physical therapy at the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.

“Where seismic uses ground vibrations to find oil, we can apply the same principle to find problems in the back including location and severity.”

This should come as welcome news for patients and clinicians alike as Kawchuk says the track record for accurately diagnosing the specific causes of back pain with existing technologies such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) has been spotty at best.

“Science has given us the ability to measure many of the body’s functions. With that ability, clinicians can determine if that function is on track, problematic or responding to

treatment. For back problems, science hasn’t made the same progress. Clinicians don’t really have a cost effective and accessible way to assess how the back is working. Hopefully that will change with VibeDx.”

And of the few back conditions that can be diagnosed by current technologies, initial investigations suggest that VibeDx may be able to reach the same conclusions at a fraction of the time and cost, a significant boost for the nation’s over-burdened health-care system.

While many would see this is a significant breakthrough in its own right, Kawchuk adds that a greater benefit may yet be achieved with the ability of VibeDx to reveal new insight into the 90 per cent of back problems that, as of now, cannot be accurately diagnosed at all.

With the potential to be a game-changing (not to mention lucrative) technology, it’s no surprise that VibeDx was recently awarded the 2011 Alberta TEC VenturePrize (Fast Growth Category), an honour which has left Kawchuk with a smile on his face ever since— and with good reason.

Since conducting human trials last year, Kawchuk says his company has already begun talks with a number of international partners to bring the technology to market by its target date of 2015.

For more information on VibeDx, visit www.vibedx.ca

Focused World-Class ResearchFocused world-class research conducted by the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine will be translational, whether based in basic science or clinical studies, whether it is community-based, in acute care settings or in investigating health systems. In all cases it will be transformational, impacting the community and the world. - Pursuing Your Best, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine Strategic Plan 2010-2014

VibeDX is giving good vibes when it comes to back pain

AT A GLANCE 42 tenure track scientists

4 post docs, with 2 doing clinical research

35 PhD students, with 24 clinician scientists

18 MSc Rehabilitation Science students

19 PhD students and 24 MSc students graduated in the past 5 years

3.08 years = average time to complete an MSc RS

5.36 years = average time to complete a PhD

13 active projects funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

3 active projects funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH)

6 active projects funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

1 active project funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

6 active projects funded by Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research (ACCFCR)

$412, 313 = total graduate student awards, scholarships and research assistantships in Rehab Science (January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011)

$1,473,872.32 = total external research funding (July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011)


Jana Rieger, PhD, Department of Speech Pathology & Audiology, is an expert in disordered aspects of voice, resonance and speech, and chewing and swallowing as they relate to head and neck cancer.


Community Awareness and Engagement As a rehabilitation faculty that is addressing the issues of the community through education, research and service in topics such as aging, mental health, disability and sports medicine, there is no better time than now to engage [our alumni] and the community and be an informing member of it…we are advocates for rehabilitation, meeting the growing need for allied health services in the community. - Pursuing Your Best , Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine Strategic Plan 2010-2014

There was a time when Warren Steffes couldn’t tell you about his two grandsons, his walls of family photos or his impressive collection of John Deere tractor models that line his apartment shelves. That was two years ago, when the 72-year-old widower suffered a stroke. Upon waking from a coma after 19 days, “I couldn’t speak at all,” he says. “But today, I’ve got more to say. It’s really good.” Like Steffes, hundreds of Alberta adults with dementia, stroke-related impairments and other neurological disorders are

regaining the ability to communicate effectively thanks to a program offered within the city’s continuing care environments. Speech-language Pathology Consulting Services – provided through a partnership between Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta – supports adults in long-term care, a supportive-living facility or in home care who have communication impairments of varying severity. For some, memory loss makes conversation difficult and frustrating; others have lost the ability to speak altogether.

Stroke, dementia adults get speech therapy where they live

Warren Steffes with SLPs Rhonda Kajner and Sophie Kollias


“When people lose the ability to communicate, it takes a huge emotional toll on them and their families, and it makes the job more difficult for caregivers,” says AHS speech-language pathologist Rhonda Kajner. “This program benefits Albertans with communication needs by giving them confidence and increasing their independence. It really helps their quality of life and participation with family and community.” The program has helped more than 250 adults, mostly seniors, since 2009.

“In the past, some had the attitude that if you can’t communicate well, it’s not life and death, you’re not going to die, so we don’t have to worry about it,” says Tammy Hopper, an associate professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at the University of Alberta. “But in reality, a lack of ability to communicate meaningfully with somebody else really results in social isolation and depression. The individual may think: ‘I can’t understand what you say, so I’m going back to bed.’ It certainly is a quality-of-life issue.” Ensuring people with special needs receive support is one of the goals outlined in Becoming the Best: Alberta’s 5-Year Health Action Plan, jointly developed by AHS and the Government of Alberta. The service employs four AHS speech-language pathologists (SLPs), each of whom supervises two postgraduate SLP students, creating a pool of a dozen SLPs who work with patients and their families for typically one to three months, depending on need. Steffes is grateful he can once again speak to his daughter, grandsons and siblings after his stroke left him struggling to get sounds in the right order and find words when speaking. “I can talk much more now with my grandsons. I talked to my sister last night for an hour on the phone.” Prior to this service, adults in continuing care could only access SLP services as an outpatient in a clinical setting, an option often hindered by transportation and chronic health issues. This two-to-one supervision model fills an important need for practicum opportunities, gives quality clinical experience to students and helps to ensure more SLPs will be working with Albertans in the future. At present, it’s the only program of its kind in Alberta. The U of A has benefited from 11 full-time and 35 part-time SLP student placements in the Seniors Health portfolio of AHS. “I’m excited for people in continuing care to have access to this,” says Hopper. “I feel we are making a difference in the lives of Alberta seniors.”

AT A GLANCE 6087 alumni

17 professional development webinars with 700 attendees

3 workshops (Sitting Solutions, Functional Electrical Stimulation and Updates in Total Knee Arthroplasty) with 250 attendees

3 Certificate Programs: Pain Management, Stroke Rehabilitation and Francophone Practice for SLPs with 80 registrants

230 attendees at 2 Calgary Centre presentations

$769,836.42 Total fundraising (April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011)

Réal Chenard is the 2010-2011 President of the Rehab Med Students’ Association (RMSA). The RMSA has led our students in numerous activities in the community, including Run for the Cure and a blood drive for Canadian Blood Services.


In sticky, 35-degree heat, Camille Dubé raced across the bumpy Indonesian countryside on the back of a motorbike. She sprawled in the tropical white sands of Bali. She lost her appetite after unearthing a chicken heart in her plate of rice.

But Dubé was not on a holiday. An occupational therapy student at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, Dubé travelled with four classmates to Solo, Indonesia to complete her final clinical placement abroad this summer.

“Travelling to Indonesia was a fantastic opportunity to apply what I learned in school, and it also helped me identify what I’m weaker at and what areas I need to work on,” she smiles.

Through Surakarta Health Polytechnic, Dubé was paired with three different sites over her six-week placement: a mental health hospital, a paediatrics facility and community homecare visits.

“I really had to think critically and problem solve constantly because I was plopped in the middle of things with limited resources,” she says. “I would make a commode by sawing a hole in a lawn chair, and I’d fill water bottles with rocks or sand to make weights.”

This lesson on being resourceful is one among many reasons Shaniff Esmail, PhD, associate chair of the University of Alberta’s occupational therapy program, supports clinical placements abroad in Indonesia.

“Our students are able to challenge themselves in this international setting,” he says. “Their master’s level education is valued as a great resource in Indonesia, and the facilities and hospitals expect them to teach and learn.”

Last year, four U of A OT students went to Indonesia on successful placements, so this year five students went says Esmail. But the University of Alberta’s connection with Indonesia extends back much farther than two years.

Global PartnershipsWe have taken part in the planning and development of various programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology in other countries…we want to collaborate and take part in the rehabilitation movement that is happening globally. - Pursuing Your Best, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine Strategic Plan 2010-2014

Adventurous, life-changing education in Indonesia


“U of A professor Sharon Brintnell is considered the mother of occupational therapy in Indonesia. She and her team helped get it going back in the late 1980s and we have been supporting OT in Indonesia ever since,” smiles Esmail.

Funded by a grant to initiate OT in Indonesia, four Indonesia physiotherapists travelled to Canada and studied occupational therapy here at the U of A. The four alumni then returned to Indonesia to start an occupational therapy program, and Surakarta Health Polytechnic is now the only OT program in Indonesia recognized by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists. Today, it is still run by three of the four U of A alumni, and Esmail spent three months in 2005 revamping their curriculum.

“We’re making a difference not just here, but internationally says Esmail. And if you really look at it, without the University of Alberta, would occupational therapy be alive and well in Indonesia? Who knows?”

Jarett Stastny also completed his final clinical placement at Surakarta Health Polytechnic and is grateful for the Indonesian connection that provided him with such a unique learning experience.

“There is a longstanding relationship between our institutions, so they’ve already taken students from the U of A before he says The familiarity with the process made things very convenient and easy for us to get involved Its a great opportunity to mix personal development with professional development theres a depth of learning that you just dont get when youre comfortably surrounded by what you know

Esmail says the Department of Occupational Therapy intends to keep this connection alive and strong, and plans are in the works to initiate world federation approved programs in Jakarta, Indonesia and Denpasar, Bali.

AT A GLANCE

7 international partnerships involving four different countries

13 international student clinical placements

22 international presentations by faculty in 12 different countries

Our global impact has reached Turkey, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Australia, Portugal, Colombia, France, China, Indonesia, India, Japan and the UK.

Jiajie Wu is an MSc Rehabilitation Science student from Guangdong, China. She currently conducts research in wheelchair mechanics at the Rehab Robotics Lab in the new Edmonton Clinic Health Academy building at the U of A.


Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research (ISTAR)“We have a voice. We have been heard!” David Seidler said in his acceptance speech for Best Screenplay, The King’s Speech, at the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27, 2011. The King’s Speech won Best Picture, a success that is also a win for ISTAR and other organizations for stuttering research and treatment, as the movie gave those in the stuttering community—clients, clinicians, researchers, family and friends—a bigger voice.

Last February, ISTAR expanded its clinic in Calgary hosting a media event and reception to commemorate the occasion. On November 30, Deborah Kully retired as executive director of the institute. Since 1978, she has devoted her entire professional career to those who stutter. Her leadership was integral in the development of ISTAR’s treatment programs, which continue to have a positive impact on clients, students, researchers, families and friends worldwide.

In its continuing efforts to contribute to improving communication skills, ISTAR recently introduced a workshop series through its Communication Improvement Program. These popular one-day sessions dealt with topics such as public speaking, accent reduction and thesis defence.

ISTAR celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012. www.istar.ualberta.ca

Alberta Centre on AgingThe Alberta Centre on Aging became part of the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine in 2011. The centre promotes cutting-edge research, education, and service in aging, through interdisciplinary collaboration and through partnerships with stakeholders. As aging is inherently interdisciplinary, the Centre brings together researchers from various disciplines to address issues of concern: Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences, Arts, Extension, Medicine and Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physical Education, Science and Rehabilitation Medicine.

The centre serves as a focal point for research and education in aging. It plays an important role in linking individuals and groups with similar research and education interests and needs. Interdisciplinary research teams are being established to study complex, aging-related questions. The Alberta Centre on Aging also hosted a series of events, conferences and seminars this past year, including Coming of Age: The Policy Impact of an Aging Population and Research on Aging: Nibble, Nosh and Network.www.aging.ualberta.ca

Our Institutes and Centres


This past year, the RRC’s activities included:

• Developing a library on research design, data analysis, grant writing principles and ethics in research, in addition to a file of funding agencies

• Providing consulting services for faculty members and students writing grant applications or research reports; these services are also provided to outside individuals or groups on a contract basis

• Developing research links between the university and clinical communities in order to facilitate clinically relevant rehabilitation research

• Offering seminars and workshops on research methodology for faculty, students and clinicians

• Developing teaching materials for research methods, ethics and related topics

• Sponsoring multi-disciplinary grant applications and research fellows interested in multidisciplinary research

• Compiling an annual report outlining the research activities of the centre

• Conducting research pertinent to the practice of rehabilitation medicine in Alberta and beyond

Rehabilitation Research Centre The Rehabilitation Research Centre (RRC) of the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine facilitates health-related research in rehabilitation process and study. Established in 1989, the RRC consults, provides resource materials and connects people and organizations to relevant information and research in the rehabilitation disciplines. The RRC provides four key services: consultation, resource library, information services and educational/workshop sessions. The RRC values the role of health-related research and program evaluation and endeavours to assist researchers and evaluators achieve the highest standard in their work.


POur occupational therapy students won gOT Spirit? in 2010, a national competition promoting and building awareness for OT.

POur physical therapy program’s synchronized distance learning program extended for a second year in Camrose and will expand to Calgary in 2012.

PDeborah Kully, Margaret Wood, Tapio Videman and Adele Colon retired in 2010-11. The Faculty celebrates their lifetime achievements and contributions to rehabilitation medicine.

POur Occupational Therapy program celebrated its 50th anniversary.

PWe welcomed Keri Scobie (Communications), Ada Leung (OT), Suzette Bremault-Phillips (OT), Cheryl Ackerman (PT), Jessica Papineau (OT), Linda Woodhouse (PT), Jacqueline Poulin (OT), Jackie Chow (PT), Michelle Green (OT), Lisa Jasper (PT), Jon Gabbai (PT), Heather Bredy (PT) and Caitlin Brown (PT) to the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.

PThe Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research treated the King Georges of Calgary by expanding to offer its services in a Calgary clinic.

PThe Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine adopted the Alberta Centre on Aging.

PCathy and Harold Roozen donated $1.5 million to the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine to create the Dr. David Magee Endowed Chair in Musculoskeletal Research. Linda Woodhouse, PhD, is appointed the inaugural chair.

PThe Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine created the Canadian Military and Veterans’ Chair in Clinical Rehabilitation, a first in Canada.

POur speech-language pathology students helped people regain their speech after stroke at the Rehab Med Satellite, a student clinic that treats people with aphasia.

2010-11 AT A GLANCE


PThe Ian Sim Memorial Graduate Scholarship was created at the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, awarded to a physical therapy student who has shown commitment to lifelong learning – a quality Ian Sim himself possessed. Adam Teece won the inaugural scholarship.

PWe were a partner in Music in Motion, an evening of musical entertainment in support of bone and joint health care showcasing Nikki Yanofsky, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Tommy Banks, the Alberta Ballet and Jens Lindemann. The event raised more than $500,000, with $172,000 to support physical therapy student fellowships at the U of A. These students will be involved in clinical bone and joint work in Alberta.

POur YouTube channel, youtube.com/rehabmedicineuofa hit Top 30 most viewed channels in Canada one week.

PThe Continuing Professional Education Strategic Plan was published, introducing the creation of transitional programs, connecting programs designed to provide health-care professionals additional mechanisms to improve their academic qualifications from a diploma to an undergraduate degree or from an undergraduate degree to a graduate degree.

PThe Varsity Athlete Clinic launched, with U of A Golden Bears and Pandas coming to Corbett Hall to receive treatment.

POur Alumni Weekend Brunch & Forum brought more than 70 alumni back to the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, including the PT Class of 1961 and OT Class of 2001.

PThe Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine will lead in hosting the Rick Hansen Man in Motion Awareness Event in March 2012.

PThe Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine is leading the transition for the Glen Sather Clinic as it moves to its new home in Edmonton Clinic South.

2010-11 AT A GLANCE


Keep in touch.We’ve signed all our alumni and friends up for our free weekly Rehab News Digest e-newsletter. To subscribe or update your e-mail info, contact [email protected] or 780.492.9403.

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Documents

Rehab Impact Report 2010-2011