UBCO trial linking stroke patients with rehabilitation via the internet

Allowing recovery at home

Photo: canadianstroke.ca

UBC Okanagan is leading a study to help stroke patients recover better in their own homes.

As a fit and healthy 43 year old, Jennifer Monaghan didn’t see the stroke coming.

But 13 years ago, on a day that was expected to be like any other, Monaghan suddenly lost the use of her right side and the ability to speak.

She would later learn she had a genetic heart condition that led to the blood clot in her brain that was cleared by a drug quickly administered by doctors at Kelowna General Hospital.

“Luckily, it saved my life, but it was still… a devastating stroke,” Monaghan said.

While she has some lingering effects, Monaghan has recovered well from the stroke, something she credits to her overall health and age at the time.

That recovery, however, is something she found deeply frustrating and has led her to join a research team based at UBC Okanagan that is trying to make it easier for stroke patients to heal.

“I stayed in the hospital for over a month in their rehab ward,” Monaghan said, explaining she was unable to walk without assistance, could no longer write or do much in a kitchen.

Photo: UBC

Jennifer Monaghan and her family.

While in the hospital, she received one 45-minute session with a physiotherapist a day and one 45-minute session with a speech therapist a day.

“It wasn't enough,” she said. “And as soon as I could walk on my own, they had to discharge me, because the next patients were waiting to get in.”

After leaving the hospital, Monaghan, a lawyer before the stroke, recovered gradually over the course of a year with the help of various therapists that she paid for privately.

“I was fortunate that I was able to afford all that private therapy, as well as that I lived in a town that actually had a stroke specialist physiotherapist,” she said.

Dr. Brodie Sakakibara, associate professor with the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at UBCO, says stroke patients all lose their drivers licenses and two-thirds never drive again.

That makes travelling to larger centres to receive stroke recovery care difficult, forcing patients to “manage more on their own” and not recover as well, Sakakibara said.

“A lot of the people who receive inpatient rehabilitation have many unmet needs, including lower extremity issues with their legs and mobility,” Sakakibara said.

“So they have challenges. Once they're back at home, there's very few support services. There's very few follow up services from the health system.”

Sakakibara is now leading a study at UBC Okanagan to provide stroke recovery support to patients via video conferencing.

The TRAIL study, TeleRehabilitation with Aims to Improve Lower Extremity Recovery Post-Stroke, has been running for four years and will continue to intake patients until March 2026.

Sakakibara says the study provides patients with a four-week progressive exercise and self management program delivered in real time by a trained physiotherapist to help improve strength, balance and other mobility like the use of their legs.

The study is aiming to prove that telerehabilitation works so that it can be rolled out across the healthcare system.

Anecdotally, Sakakibara says patients have said they appreciate the program and having it delivered around their schedule.

Monaghan, who is serving as a patient partner in the study, says from what she’s seen so far, telerehabilitation would make a “great addition” to the healthcare system.

The TRAIL study is one of several CanStroke Recovery Trials running right now.

“If these types of studies were in existence when I had had my stroke… I would have participated in anything and everything,” Monaghan said.

“At 43, I had a family and a husband and I was a bit desperate to return to normal, which I never have done, but it would be better odds of getting back a great life for more recent patients if they do find and participate in studies like this.”

Those interested in the TRAIL study can contact [email protected].

The Okanagan Stroke Research Lab will also be hosting “Understanding Stroke Research in the Okanagan” at the Vernon library on Friday, June 27. The event is free but you can register here.

June is Stroke Awareness Month in Canada.