THC Conference and Workshop Presentations July - December, 2024

July, 2024

21st NR-SIG-WFNR Conference

June 30 - July 1, 2024, Coimbra, Portugal

 

The NR-SIG is for clinicians and researchers in a multitude of disciplines interested in the rehabilitation of people across the lifespan with cognitive, emotional, psychosocial and behavioural deficits caused by acquired brain injury or neurological disease (both progressive and nonprogressive). Research Assistant and PhD Candidate, Chelsea Marsh, attended the 21st NR-SIG-WFNR Conference in June/July, 2024. She presented the speech and poster, entitled: "An Immersive Virtual Reality Game to Identify Spatial Neglect: The Full Story From Conception & Piloting, to Efficacy & Implementation Analyses." Chelsea’s presentation provided an overview of the full study from idea generation to implementation, describing the process by which the research team created an immersive virtual reality (VR) game to assess for spatial neglect following stroke: The Attention Atlas (AA). Over 4 years, the team have piloted, and evaluated the efficacy of the AA, as well as conducting usability and implementation analyses to understand the potential for clinical uptake. 

 

 

 

August

Queensland Trauma and Burns Quality Insurance Committee (QTBQAC)

 

Centre Director, Professor Tim Geraghty, presented at the Queensland Trauma and Burns Quality Insurance Committee (QTBQAC) during August. The panel discussions were very productive raising a number of key issues on the gaps with managing the psychological impact of trauma.

 

September 

INSWABI 2024

September 18 - 20, Adelaide, SA

Dr Annerley Bates and Dr Jessie Mitchell delivered a workshop on Reclaiming Agency in Care Decisions after Brain Injury at the International Network for Social Workers in Acquired Brain Injury (INSWABI) 2024 Symposium held in Adelaide. The interactive workshop was attended by ≈30 social workers and service providers, who reflected on their own practices and developed a toolbox of scaffolded strategies to encourage agency in care decisions among individuals with brain injuries and their family members.

 

 

 

Training Neuropsychological Rehabilitation in the US 

September 17-21, Michigan, USA

From September 17th to 21st Professor Tamara Ownsworth was invited Faculty for the Saugatuck Institute of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation (SINR) in Michigan. SINR grew out of a commitment to advance the practice of neuropsychological rehabilitation internationally through intensive hands-on clinical teaching in the formulation, application, and integration of interventions for both cognitive and emotional consequences of acquired brain injury. Prof. Ownsworth has been an invited international faculty member for SINR since 2023. This year she co-facilitated the “Awareness and Insight after brain injury” training session with Dr Pamela Klonoff from the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Prof. Ownsworth also delivered a series of workshops focused on improving self-awareness and self-regulation skills after brain injury for neuropsychologists, speech and language therapists, and occupational therapists. 

 

November

Australian Assistive Technology Conference 

November 6-8, 2024, Gold Coast, AUS

Hopkins Centre researchers attended the 4th AATC 2024.The conference took place at the Gold Coast Convention Centre from November 6-8th, 2024, with the theme “Sun Sea and AT: the rising tide of innovation and inclusive technology". This two-day conference was a hub of insightful discussions, knowledge sharing, and networking opportunities for professionals and enthusiasts in the field of assistive technology.

Dr Rachel Brough presented a poster on a metasynthesis study of qualitative literature that aimed to understand the experiences of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and how assistive technology (AT) supports their higher education and work goals. Findings showed the importance of considering person-job-AT fit at all stages of AT provision and use.

Dr Camila Shirota and Matt McShane PLY gave an overview of the VisADLs project. Their presentation provided a background and motivation for the project. They also provided in more detail how the diverse team, involving researchers who represent some of the anticipated end-users, is utilising a range of design research tools in an iterative process. They also provided a demonstration of the prototype tool that has been developed. Other project members: Louise Gustafsson, Rachael DiMichele and Liz Ainsworth (session chair) were also attending the conference and at the presentation. This presentation was part of a larger session about home modifications, showcasing a range of new technologies that are available, which the team were pleased to see was well attended. 

Jayke Bennett presented a poster from the Virtual Reality (VR) Nature Project on behalf of the BEEHive team, which included investigators Dr Michael Norwood, Chelsea Marsh, Professor Louise Gustafsson, and Sue Jones. The project purpose was to examine whether showing people nature scenes through a VR headset improves their psychological wellbeing following an acquired brain injury (ABI). Participants were recruited from the Neurosciences Rehabilitation Ward at Gold Coast University Hospital. Videos were shown three times a week for two weeks and several significant local locations were shown (one on each day) – Burleigh Heads, Tallebudgera Creek, and Springbrook National Park. The findings show a decrease in reported stress and depression following at least 1-week of VR Nature compared to rehabilitation as usual, and most people reported feeling better immediately after a VR Nature video. Qualitative findings support a desire for VR Nature to be offered as a stress-relief tool throughout rehabilitation.