Research in the Global Health Rehabilitation Initiative (GHRI)
Researchers at the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy (SPOT) are conducting innovative global health research. Research projects span a wide range of topics and methodologies. They include investigations of community based stroke assessment and technology- based rehabilitation interventions, needs of persons with disabilities following natural disasters, and health and economic governance in the area of non-communicable disease prevention and control.
These research projects have received competitive funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institutes of Health, Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use and Grand Challenges Canada.
Faculty members are also providing consulting services to UNICEF in a project that will estimate the extent and range of Childhood disability in low and middle income countries.
Click below to learn more.
Faculty Research
Virtual reality and stroke rehabilitation in India and Montreal Virtual reality (VR) can promote functional rehabilitation of arm movements through environments allowing the practice of a variety of tasks while providing feedback. In a recent SPOT study by Philippe Archambault and Mindy Levin, over 80% of stroke patients recruited in Montreal, Canada and in Manipal, India provided positive feedback in terms of ease of use and VR experience. The data demonstrates the feasibility of using an affordable VR arm rehabilitation system in an Indian or Canadian clinical setting and provides clinical guidelines for the selection of impairment-specific difficulty levels.
UNICEF Expert Consultation on the Collection of Data on Children with Disabilities
Annette Majnemer and Keiko Shikako-Thomas are taking the lead on the development of chapters in a manual and toolkit for UNICEF to enable the collection of data on childhood disabilities in low and middle income countries. The team also includes Christine Imms, Catherine Elliot and Iona Novak from Australia, Matts Granlund from Sweden and Juan Bornman from South Africa and focuses on the concepts and assessment of participation and environment.
More information and Faculty Research here.
Student Projects
Student Research Project on Occupational Therapists' Perception of Global Health Fieldwork Placements
A qualitative study completed by Occupational Therapy students in the Professional Master’s Program (E Douglas, M Harewood, L Shaw,V Tousignant); supervisors: C Storr, M Hunt) to investigate perceptions of Canadian OTs regarding their experiences of conducting fieldwork in a low or middle income country during their professional education. Themes were identified relating to experiences of living in a new cultural context, learning about diff erent approaches and models of occupational therapy practice, supports and resources for carrying out fieldwork, and perceptions of how f eldwork affects students, clients, institutions, and host communities.
Student Research Project on Musculoskeletal injuries and health-care seeking behaviours for porters on Mt Kilmanjaro, Tanzania
Five McGill PT students (J Cyr, J Berta, M Bourgois, T Erdan, E Goulay; supervisors R Preuss and PJ Moroz) collaborated with students and faculty (T Mtuy) in Tanzania to investigate musculoskeletal symptoms and health seeking behaviors of Tanzanian porters who work on Mount Kilimanjaro. The McGill students travelled to Tanzania in June 2014 and worked with students at a local university to plan data collection with porters, and also involved a control group of local shopkeepers. Data were subsequently collected and are now being analyzed.
Student Stories
More than a Master's Group Project in Haiti
As part of the School’s Global Health Initiative, physiotherapy Master’s student, Evans Juste recently had the opportunity to represent his Master’s Group Project in Haiti, which also included the unique opportunity to visit his parents’ home country. “We found that the future needs would be to advocate to stakeholders and increase available opportunities to those graduating from these programs that are realistic to meet the needs in a third world country” explains Evans. On a personal level, “It was a true cultural experience for me that I really appreciated, to hear stories from my grandparents, to be welcomed by the people, and to see and experience the country and culture that I had only imagined when I was younger, this was an opportunity for which I am grateful for on both a personal and professional level.”
The project examined professional practice contexts of graduates from three rehabilitation technician programs in Haiti, and explored the graduates’ work profiles and perceptions regarding their readiness to work, difficulties encountered at work, and their vision for professional development. The group produced an informal observation report on the rehabilitation technician program and overall job satisfaction as well as two policy briefs for physiotherapy rehabilitation in patients affected by stroke and traumatic brain injury in this population.
This project was funded by the McBurney Advanced Training Program, through the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy.
Evans Juste has graduated and is now working at Action Sport, Physio Rivière-des-Prairies.
