2009 Press Releases

Therapy Research and Rehabilitation
06.05.2009

How therapy research and rehabilitation in Ireland has developed will be the theme of the 5th Annual Conference of the Rehabilitation and Therapy Research Society (RTRS) taking place at UCC on Friday next, May 8th 2009.
The conference, hosted by UCC, is titled “Innovations in Therapy Research: Impacts on Patient Care”.

The Rehabilitation and Therapy Research Society (RTRS) was established in May 2004 by representatives from the professions of physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. Its mission statement is to “develop and enhance rehabilitation and therapy research on the island of Ireland”.

Professor Suzanne McDonagh, University of Ulster will present findings of research undertaken to identify priorities for the therapy services in Ireland. Funding of €70,000 was provided by the Therapy Advisory Unit, Health Research Board, Department of Health for this project.

There are also several other highly distinguished, international keynote speakers on the conference programme.  Dr Alison Porter-Armstrong, University of Ulster will present a lecture titled: “The Innovation Experience: On board the Starship Enterprise”.  Alison will share her experiences in the development of the Easi-Seating System which has brought challenges, rewards and unexpected outcomes. Brendan Cremen, Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at UCC will discuss “Technology transfer in the therapies” in his presentation. Brendan is responsible for the capture, protection and commercialisation of UCC intellectual property.

Afternoon sessions will include presentations on studies of cardiac rehabilitation, stroke, low back pain, intellectual disability and strength in Gaelic football players. Poster sessions with highlight topics such as the use of an ‘upper limb virtual reality rehabilitation system’ which demonstrates the application of technology to stroke rehabilitation.  Researchers from the Centre for Rehabilitation Research in the University of Ulster have developed upper limb virtual reality simulations and have investigated the user experience with healthy volunteers prior to testing in the stroke population. Musculoskeletal disorders among farmers in Ireland were investigated by physiotherapists in UCD who found that back pain was the most common complaint and that lifetime prevalence was 52.8%.  

Deirdre Hurley-Osing, chair of the RTRS expects the meeting to be a stimulating day, showing that with hard work and collaboration, research in the therapy professions can go from strength to strength. The society looks forward to contributing to this process in the coming years.

1077MMcS



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