Building toolkits for telehealth

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has given telehealth a big boost, but some clinicians lack confidence in using it.

Associate Professor Christian Barton received a Pat Cosh Trust Grant this year to develop a toolkit for clinicians treating osteoarthritis.

Last year, postdoctoral researcher Dr Jane Chalmers, APAM, saw a call-out for applications for a new editorial fellowship at the Journal of Physiotherapy.

1. Airway clearance is essential for people with cervical or thoracic spinal cord injury

Respiratory complications remain the most common cause of mortality following spinal cord injury (SCI).

The ability to breathe deeply and cough forcefully is impaired to varying degrees depending on the level and completeness of the SCI.

1. Dogs are susceptible to cruciate ligament injuries

Cranial cruciate ligament disease (CCLD) is the leading cause of hindlimb lameness in the dog (Powers et al 2005).

The cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) is the canine equivalent of the human anterior cruciate ligament.

1. Strong bones start in childhood

One in two women and one in four men will suffer an osteoporotic fracture after the age of 50 but while the problem manifests in adulthood, its origin is in childhood.

Behaviour patterns set in childhood are therefore critical to bone health in later life.

Is there evidence that telehealth is an effective physiotherapy service delivery mode for any clinical conditions?

Why did you decide to undertake this review? Were there strong reasons to think that adding tDCS to walking training would be beneficial in Parkinson’s disease?

We hear a lot about physiotherapists’ involvement with Parkinson’s disease. How many people have the disease?

Parkinson’s disease affects over 6 million people globally.

Because of the rapidly ageing population, the number of people affected by Parkinson’s disease is projected to double to over 12 million by 2040.

The pool of funds from which early career researchers can drink is a shallow one.

And with fierce competition at the trough, getting research projects off the ground can be challenging at best.