AMY: We get most of our referrals from the falls clinic here at the Repat.
In line with falls and balance evidence we have both balance aspects which we
try and make predominantly standing rather than seated exercises, and
strength and reconditioning elements to the circuit.
We have up to 8 patients at one time with 1 physio and 1 exercise
physiologist and sometimes an assistant.
They come in twice a week for a period of 4 to 6 weeks and do 90 minutes of
circuit and then we do that in conjunction with an education program around
falls prevention.
GAYNOR: With the exercises they explain to you what is most beneficial for
your problem.
BARRY: Exercise rehabilitation for me personally contributes to controlling my
type 2 diabetes and hopefully strengthening my muscles so that I don't fall and
trip over things.
GAYNOR: It's helped me with my balance and helped me going up and down steps.
CHRIS: We run a daily circuit class for our inpatient stroke patients.
So they would usually receive a one-to-one physio treatment session
and if they're suitable then we would give them an extra dosage of therapy
in our circuit program each day as well.
We run our circuit sessions from Monday to Friday and we aim for about
an hour and a half per session depending on the patient.
Generally we would have anywhere from 4 to 6 patients per circuit class.
We try to have one therapist and assistant helping out.
ANNETTE: Without exercise and rehabilitation I would probably still
be in bed not able to move my legs.
I think the more you work the brain to tell it how to walk again
and reinvent what you take for granted, I think it's most important.
CHRIS: We try to make our therapy as task-specific as we possibly can.
So giving lots of opportunities, working on walking practice,
balance-type tasks, upper-limb tasks and even just practicing transfers,
getting from lying to sitting, sitting to standing.
STUART: When you think about the use of video games for rehabilitation,
in a standard rehabilitation setting you have patients doing very repetitive,
boring rehabilitation tasks like picking up a sandbag from one side
of the table and moving it to the other side a hundred times in a
session, and that's just really boring but it's the best thing you
can often do for patients to try and regain some function.
Think about Fruit Ninja on the iPad. There you're swiping across a surface
multiple times chopping bits of fruit in half and it's really fun.
That maps almost perfectly on to what you need to do in upper-limb
rehabilitation following stroke.
JILL: Humac balance uses are computer screen with the balance board.
The patient stands on the balance board, they can do exercises to test the limits
of their stability or also some games.
The Wii comes with a balance board.
There are some good games to use with patients.
DARRYL: The first one I was in a bubble going down a river and you had
to move your weight.
The best part about it with the games is you're not thinking about your knee.
JILL: We use the dance mat in circuit for patients to practice stepping and
also as an assessment tool for stepping strategies.
In the Kinect system there isn't a balance board, the patient uses their
body to direct the games and to interact with what's happening.
Usually in circuit we have between 5 and 6 patients.
It lasts about 1 to 1 1/2 hours and we tend to change the games
every 10 to 15 minutes.
MARIA: Circuit's great because it's fun, it's in a peer-supported environment, and
you get a lot of practice.
DARRYL: I think the more rehabilitation you get, the quicker you'll get over
the injury.