Robots are our friends, right? Maybe more than you think--a study finds that robot-assisted physical therapy may improve stroke patients' mobility more than regular therapy.

Researchers assigned 10 stroke patients to robot-assisted therapy, and 10 to a more traditional physical therapy program that included occupational therapy techniques (this served as the control group). Both groups had sessions lasting 90 to 105 minutes a day, five days a week for four weeks. The patients' arm activity was measured using an accelerometer, which tracks the body's acceleration, allowing researchers to record dynamic movement...

A billboard offering five-figure bonuses for physical therapists towers over Interstate 81 near River Street in Scranton, a stark example of just how challenging some area hospitals are finding it to meet a growing demand.

Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale has paid for several billboards around the region to advertise the $15,000 bonus being offered to physical therapists, but it has not helped the hospital keep the positions filled...

"I hated it when doctors told me I couldn’t do something because I had a disability,” said Natalie Anderson, 15, of Marietta. She and her horse, Bella, competed in Rolling Hills Saddle Club equestrian show that was held Saturday at the Wills Park Equestrian Center in Milton.

This was Anderson’s first traditional competition making it a high point for a young girl who was born with a physical disability that caused her to have low muscle tissue. She uses a walker to get around. Anderson, whose parents were told that she may never be able to walk, holds blue ribbons from the Special Olympics and became determined to compete in traditional shows...

Robots are our friends, right? Maybe more than you think--a study finds that robot-assisted physical therapy may improve stroke patients' mobility more than regular therapy.

Researchers assigned 10 stroke patients to robot-assisted therapy, and 10 to a more traditional physical therapy program that included occupational therapy techniques (this served as the control group). Both groups had sessions lasting 90 to 105 minutes a day, five days a week for four weeks...

Physical therapists have been added as the latest amendment to HB 446, which would make licensing optional for some professions. The New Hampshire House of Representatives has worked diligently to stop the growth of government and has reversed some of its intrusions into business. This is consistent with New Hampshire values. I believe, however, we can agree there is a place for government in consumer protection. Licensing of health care professionals is one of those places...

The new Biodex Balance System SD at the KORT Springhurst clinic is getting a real workout as physical therapists use it to assess and treat patients with a wide variety of conditions including: vestibular and balance issues, concussions, falls, orthopedic injuries, and rehabilitation following knee and hip replacement surgery...

Two of the largest privately owned physical therapy businesses in the Philadelphia region have merged to form a new company.

Excel Physical Therapy of Philadelphia and Apex Physical Therapy of Blue Bell, Pa., are consolidating operations as E&A Physical Therapy.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed...

I sat across the table from Chuck, marveling at his robust good health. We'd just been to see a play — and instead of looking pale and pinched after it ended, he stood up, clapping wildly through the last curtain call.

Six months ago, he'd been crossing a road in the crosswalk and was hit by a car, tossed up on the hood and dropped to the asphalt crosswalk below. Chuck is 75 years old. Even before the accident he was in pain from lifelong back problems and several resultant surgeries, tossing pills down and placing a special pillow behind his back when he sat down to watch a play...

Instead of your average physical and occupational therapy, A Big Blast not-for-profit organization offers special needs kids what is more of a fun and engaging gymnastics class.

With locations in Mundelein and Downers Grove, the program's founder, Rhonda Penzell, talked about what makes it a unique and effective experience for kids.

Q. When was the organization founded?

A. “It was founded in July 2009.”

Q. Did you always know you wanted to work in physical therapy with kids with special needs?...

After years of internal program management, The American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF) recently selected International Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc. (ISTS) to develop an online application and process applicant submissions for the AOTF Scholarship Program. ISTS will also conduct a preliminary round of selection; however, the Foundation will determine the final scholarship recipients and disburse scholarship funds...

Mary Ann Galle of Brandon says it looked like "seeing fireworks at night when they are quiet in the distance and kinda go poof! ... that's what it felt like was going on inside my head."

Galle, 68, was suffering a stroke Dec. 23, 2010, that left her unable to feel anything on her left side.

Paramedics rushed her to Baptist Hospital in Jackson where she spent eight days before undergoing nearly four weeks of therapy at Methodist Rehabilitation Center.

Her turning point on the road to recovery?

"When the therapist asked me what I liked to do, and I said 'I'm an artist. I enjoy painting,' " says Galle, recovering at home and able to walk with the aid of a cane. "In no time they brought me three canvasses and told me to start painting ... I felt like I had become alive again."...

Walters State Community College is planning a $20 million dollar renovation to its Greeneville/Greene County campus. The facelift will also include more academic programs in the future. The college presented the plan to members of the Greene County Partnership during the organization's breakfast on Tuesday. Funding for the project is coming from state and private sources. The college was awarded a $9 million dollar grant from the state...

A Rehabilitation Hospital and Geriatric Center in Wheeling is partnering with gardeners to create, what they’re calling a therapeutic garden for patients. What was once a barren piece of land riddled with concrete behind Peterson Rehabilitation Hospital has now been transformed into a botanical paradise. “It’s just a feeling of peace and serenity, and it’s so nice to be out here. Quiet. Good air,” said Larue Bruce, a patient at the facility...

The primary aim of this review study was to gather evidence on the effectiveness in terms of return to work (RTW) of occupational therapy interventions (OTIs) in rehabilitation patients with non-congenital disorders. A secondary aim was to be able to select the most efficient OTI.

Methods: A systematic literature review of peer-reviewed papers was conducted using electronic databases (Cinahl, Cochrane Library, Ebsco, Medline (Pubmed), and PsycInfo).

The search focussed on randomised controlled trials and cohort studies published in English from 1980 until September 2010. Scientific validity of the studies was assessed...

AZ - The Prescott Unified School District board unanimously approved a contract for occupational therapy, and a new principal for Lincoln School, among other items.

Board member Joan Fleming moved that the board approve a contract agreement between the district and the Yavapai County Education Service for 180 days of occupational therapy services for the 2011-12 school year at a projected cost of $86,400...

How can Occupational Therapist Intervention help ADHD Children?

The psychology of children with ADHD must first be understood in order to deal with them. Getting them to mingle with other children is induced through group therapy. This way social interaction develops, a child is motivated to do an activity. For example if an introvert child is in a group with a hyperactive and or extrovert child, then the introvert child imitates the other...

As the medical world begins to adopt technological innovations, all health care disciplines are searching for the most efficient, cost-effective, secure devices and software to expedite the delivery process. But choosing and implementing the right information technology system requires careful consideration.

According to Michael Stevenson, director of product management at MediServe Corp, Chandler, Ariz, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, passed by Congress in February 2009, created a "foundation for interoperability between systems." He says, "This foundation will allow for greater confidence of critical patient information being shared between systems for the improvement of patient safety and outcomes."...

When Haiti was rocked by earthquakes in January of 2010, Larry Biron and the Medical Supplies Network sprang into action.

"We were the first people to make a delivery to Haiti," said Biron, director of operations.

The Medical Supplies Network, a nonprofit project of area Rotarian clubs that ships free medical supplies overseas, delivered boxes of water purification systems to the ravaged country...

Honeywell has released the HumidIcon Digital Temperature/Humidity Sensors, HIH-6131/6130 Series, which offers energy efficiency, steadiness, and accuracy in a product that combines temperature sensing and digital output humidity.

This product could be made use of in microenvironment and medical applications and in HVAC-refrigeration, medical incubators and respiratory therapy. These sensors have a total error band, which would provide superior sensor interchangeability, handle system uptime, support warranty and system accuracy needs and give their customers a great advantage...

English writer Anthony Burgess probably said it best: “Laugh and the world laughs with you; snore and you sleep alone.”

Very few — at one time or another — have not had their sleep disturbed by the torturous sound of sawing logs. Last year, the Associated Press reported that a Chinese college student confessed to stabbing his roommate to death due to his relentless snoring...

Almost every nerdy character ever produced by Hollywood has come equipped with an inhaler.

To individuals who suffer from asthma, however, the condition is no laughing matter.

According to the World Health Organisation, asthma affects more than 230 million people worldwide, and results in hundreds of thousands of deaths every year.

“Six out of 10 people with asthma do not have control of their disease,” said Melissa Shaw, a respiratory therapist. “Their poorly controlled asthma may lead to a severe, life-threatening asthma attack and permanent lung damage.”...

Multiple births account for 15 percent of preterm labor births, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Poor prenatal care and pre-term delivery are more likely with a pregnant teen than older women, as they tend to receive late or no prenatal care, advises NIH...

Burbank, CA, August 11, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Virtual Speech Center Inc., the provider of online speech therapy (telepractice), announced today the release of Quick Artic, an articulation iPhone application available for free download on Apple’s iTunes App store.

Quick Artic is a free IPhone application for Speech Language Pathologists which contains 566 images tagged with titles and categorized by "phonemes." This easy to use application features a scoring utility which keeps track of the correct and incorrect answers. Quick Artic automatically calculates the score.
The application includes ten most common phonemes in all positions of words. It can be used in speech language therapy or for quick articulation screening...

Four Utah State University graduate students and two professors recently spent a month in Vietnam training teachers to work with hearing-impaired children.

They also took with them thousands of dollars worth of hearing aids and other equipment to help treat Vietnamese children who have hearing loss.

The USU group was invited on the trip by Seattle-based Global Foundation for Children With Hearing Loss. Thirteen other audiology and deaf education professionals from around the country joined them to share their knowledge and latest techniques...

I love questions about my career as a speech-language pathologist. I've been passionate about it from the beginning, and I enjoy telling others about this rewarding career, especially those thinking of a career as an SLP.

I began my career working in the public schools, and those years working with children, teachers, parents and fellow SLPs were quite rewarding, as well as demanding, frustrating, inspiring, creative, and busy. Encouraging comments were the norm.

There were always some not-so-welcome comments ("Educators have it so easy" or "Wow, I wish I could play games with kids all day and get paid"), but mostly, the reactions were supportive...

At a session with his Northampton speech pathologist, Alex Young once admitted to adjusting his order at a coffee shop so he didn’t have to use the word "small."

Those s’s - they can be so hard for someone who stutters. So Young would ask for a medium. "She was appalled," Young, a 22-year-old carpenter, said of his therapist. "You have to say what you want," she told him...

When Pat Wheeler had her stroke about a year ago, it affected her right side and she lost control of her speech. The only word she could utter was "why."

Now Mercy Health Center speech and language pathologist Kimberly Biller has worked with Wheeler enough that she can speak in full sentences. Augmenting the work Wheeler and Biller have done are an iPad and Lingraphica system, which help Wheeler speak in short phrases. The Lingraphica system is synched to an iPod Touch...

Radio-TV-Film senior Alex Murphy has a knack for storytelling through short stories, poetry and screenwriting. One of his undergraduate classes was a professional communication course, which requires students to deliver oral presentations in class.

On the day of his first presentation, Murphy felt well prepared and ready to tackle the assignment. But his four-minute presentation dragged into 15 minutes as he struggled with his stutter to get the words out...

Speech etiquette is dictated by cultural norms, and a Texas State assistant professor is attempting to streamline the information.

Rahual Chakraborty, communication disorders assistant professor, is having his graduate level multicultural backgrounds students develop a website that would combine information on cultural backgrounds with corresponding speech language pathology...