Toolkits for functional electrical stimulation: Equipping clinicians to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice.
Presenters: Kristin E. Musselman [1-3], Hope Jervis-Rademeyer [4], Matthew G. Heffernan [2-3], Chester Ho [4-5] & Cesar Marquez-Chin [3,6,7]
[1] Department of Physical Therapy, Termerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada; [2] Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada; [3] KITE Research Institute, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University Health Network; [4] Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Canada; [5] Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Canada; [6] Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada; [7] Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada.
Workshop description: Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is one of the most studied technologies in the neurorehabilitation field; yet, there is a disconnect between the use of FES in research and clinical settings. In Canada, few clinicians working in neurorehabilitation use FES. [1] Commonly reported barriers to using FES are a lack of knowledge and training in FES and an unfamiliarity with FES equipment. [1] To address these barriers and support clinicians’ implementation of FES into their practice, we developed freely-available toolkits for FES Clinical Decision Making and FES Cycling. A toolkit is an action-oriented collection of knowledge translation products (e.g. manual, video, case studies) that facilitate clinician behavior change and promote the translation of research findings into clinical practice. [2]
In this workshop, clinicians and researchers will get ‘hands-on’ with the FES toolkits to learn about the characteristics, format, and structure of toolkits. Methods of toolkit development and evidence supporting the role of toolkits in knowledge translation will also be reviewed. The workshop’s learning objectives are to:
1) describe the characteristics of a toolkit and its role in the translation of research findings to clinical practice,
2) understand how to adopt a user-centered approach to the development of knowledge translation tools, and
3) become familiar with the toolkits for FES Clinical Decision Making and FES Cycling.
The workshop leaders will use a combination of lecture-style teaching, case-based learning, and practical activities to achieve the learning objectives. Participants will interact with the toolkits in real time; for example, view instructional videos and complete interactive knowledge checks. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation devices will be available to participants, enabling them to try some of the practical activities within the toolkits.
[1] Auchstaetter et al. Physical Therapy 2016;96:995-1005.
[2] Yamada et al. BMJ Open 2015;5:e006808.
