Stroke ISIG Task Force Information
The mission of the Stroke ISIG is to be a leader in interdisciplinary stroke rehabilitation—both in clinical practice and research—by promoting high standards of rehabilitation practice, education, and research among professionals with common interests in stroke.
We encourage ACRM members interested in stroke rehabilitation to identify one or more task forces that align with their interests. Members are encouraged to join task forces at any career stage! See the following task force goal updates to see what projects we have in the works for the upcoming year.
Interested in getting more involved with our task forces? Contact the co-chairs for information about ongoing projects and opportunities!
Movement Interventions Task Force
The Movement Interventions Task Force is a dynamic group of neurorehabilitation researchers and clinicians representing a variety of disciplines from across the United States and Canada. A common interest among all members and the theme of this task force is movement after stroke.
Movement-related deficits are the most common impairments exhibited after stroke, and in many cases, the most disabling. Yet, there remain few therapies that effectively target stroke motor impairments. Moreover, the therapeutic ingredients that most impact motor changes after stroke, and the ways in which movement-related variables change after stroke (i.e. speed, precision, strength, pacing), each remain poorly understood.
We are a product-oriented group focusing on developing new knowledge about movement after stroke through development of presentations, papers, and other educational materials for patients, care partners, and professionals.
In 2019 the task force accomplished:
- Presenting two conference proposals
- Publishing two articles
- Hosting one Virtual Happy Hour
2020 goals are to:
- Submit one conference proposal
- Submit one article or IEP for publication
- Present at least one session/poster for conference
- Host one Virtual Happy Hour
- Facilitate communication and networking among task force members as well as with other task forces/ISIGs to identify potential opportunities for collaborations.
Vision Task Force
The visual system is one of our most important senses. It enables us to gather and process information and determines how we will interact with our dynamic environment. Neurological diseases or insults can leave patients with some degree of visual, perceptual, and/or cognitive dysfunction. A neglected component in therapies to improve function is a clear understanding of eye-hand coordination even though harmonization between eye and hand movement is required for all functional activities.
The mission of this task force is to understand how vision, visual motor, and visual perceptual training can be generalized to limb training to improve coordination and functional performance and develop the field of functional vision rehabilitation. Further, our task force will investigate the role of eye movements in eye-hand coordination and in the recovery of motor control in patients with stroke. We hope to stimulate research that will build a logical foundation to integrate the principles of eye-hand coordination into clinical practice to improve functional ability.
The Vision Task Force is a group comprised of clinicians and researchers who are dedicated to elucidating these serious concerns. Aside from the development of functional vision rehabilitation for ocular ailments, our secondary goals involve promulgating information regarding the importance of visual deficits and the clinical situations where they may be prevalent, in addition to advocating for public policy to take a stronger stance on assisting those with vision impediments and allocating healthcare resources appropriately.
In 2019 the taskforce accomplished:
- Presenting a conference proposal
- Started validating a vision screening questionnaire
- Published an information and education proposal on their conceptual model
- Met monthly
- Published a paper
In 2020 the taskforce’s goals are to:
- Review literature on visual perceptual tests to further research on psychometrics and functionality
- Submit at least one presentation at ACRM 2020
- Write an IEP on a different vision topic
- Continue with validation of screen questionnaire project
Health and Wellness Task Force
Health management and maintenance is a critical considerations for adults who have survived a stroke. People with stroke must learn how to manage their condition and actively prevent future stroke or other disease. The goal of this group is to engage in activities promoting the health and wellbeing of persons after stroke. Topics of interest include nutrition, physical activity, adherence, medication management, mental health, and health disparities.
In 2019 the Task Force accomplished:
- Publishing Classification of Mild Stroke: A Mapping Review, Inconsistent Classification of Mild Stroke and Implications of Health Services Delivery
- Submitting one Information/Education page: Conceptualizing mental health and stroke IEP
- Presented four symposia at the Annual Conference.
2020 goals are to:
- Publish 1 information and education page
- 1 manuscript
- 1 presentation at ACRM 2020
Aphasia Task Force
Aphasia is a language disorder resulting from damage to the left-hemisphere of the brain. Aphasia most commonly occurs following a stroke and results in long-term disability of communication. Individuals with aphasia have difficulty speaking, reading, writing, and understanding spoken language. However, individuals with aphasia are otherwise intelligent with preserved memory and attention systems. As such, aphasia is a frustrating disorder in which an individual is unable to express his or her thoughts fully and accurately or understand the thoughts of others.
Oftentimes individuals with aphasia have lingering medical needs following the stroke and/or physical and occupational impairments as a result of the stroke. Additionally, depression commonly occurs in individuals with aphasia. Therefore, individuals with aphasia are typically under the care of multiple health care professionals. However, not all healthcare professionals receive specific education or training on aphasia.
The goals of this task force are to increase aphasia education in the medical professionals that treat these individuals and support interdisciplinary research on the care of individuals with aphasia. Specifically, this task force aims to improve the communication between rehabilitation professionals and their patients with aphasia in order to improve the care and quality of life of these individuals.
In 2019 the task force accomplished:
- Submitting 2 information/education pages:
- Aphasia FAQs for the Rehabilitation Professional
- Supportive Communication for Individuals with Aphasia; Hosted one Virtual Happy Hour; Increased task force membership and created a membership directory; and are Developing a database of online resources for communication impairments.
The task force’s 2020 goals include:
- Development of I/E pages
- Hosting 1 virtual happy hour
- Submitting 1-2 symposium talks for the 2020 Annual Conference
- Complete the database of resources for communication impairments.
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Pharmacy Task Force
Medication therapies significantly impact the health outcomes of patients who are in need of rehabilitative medicine. As a basic treatment modality, the judicious use of medications must be discussed and considered in almost all diagnostic groups we encounter.
Neglecting the involvement of the pharmacist at the bedside, during interdisciplinary rounds and at times of transition is a costly mistake leading to poor patient outcomes.
The mission of this task force is to help define the role of the pharmacist within the rehabilitation medicine industry. Because of the variability in what pharmacists are doing within this arena, there is value in learning from one another the different ways we contribute. Once consolidated, the task force will have the responsibility of creating a recommended list of functional duties for pharmacists. This will help promote the role of pharmacy in rehabilitation medicine.
A second priority for this group will be to investigate gaps in medication therapy in rehab medicine. The task force will look to see where medication therapies have failed our patients, where interventions are necessary and what resources we have to counter some of these gaps in therapy. This will give us the tools to educate the community and to provide recommendations on how to engage these gaps.
The task force is comprised of pharmacists, physicians, neuropsychologists, therapists, nurses and other clinicians who have an interest in medication therapy.
In 2019 the task force accomplished:
- Hosting one virtual happy hour
- Increased membership
- Began a survey administered to pharmacists in rehabilitation to identify key functions for pharmacists to support successful patient outcomes
- Began building a network of pharmacists in the USA to communicate
In 2020 the taskforce’s goals include:
- Dissemination and return of the survey designed to assess pharmacy roles in rehabilitation medicine
- Analyze the survey and create recommendations on standardized best practice for pharmacy in this field
- Develop curriculum for pharmacy students and possible residencies
- Reinforce commitment to research
Transitions and Continuity Task Force
The Transitions and Continuity Task Force is a transdisciplinary group with a goal to improve and impact transitions and continuity of care for individuals with stroke. This group aspires to empower these individuals to take ownership of their health care through education and clinical expertise, and promote a transdisciplinary patient centered model of care across the continuum to restore these individuals to their roles and decreased recurrent stroke and readmissions.
The task force is charged with increasing awareness of the importance of improving patient transitions of care and continuity of care, research ongoing best practices, develop recommendations/programing, and collaborate among transdisciplinary teams to track potential recurrent of stroke and readmissions.
In 2019 the task force:
- Began to have monthly meetings
- Established a membership roster
- Presented three conference proposals
- Began collaborating with the Military Caregiver Task Force
2020 goals are to:
- Submit and present at least one conference proposal
- Submit one IEP for publication
- Collaborate with Lifestyle Medicine Networking group and Military Caregiver Task Force
- Host the Virtual Happy Hour on 13 February 2020
Pediatric Stroke Task Force
The mission of this task force is to organize experts from multiple disciplines and from around the world to promote best practices and research to meet the needs of children recovering from stroke and their caregivers.
In 2019 the task force grew to forty members after their first meeting in April 2019. The task force consists of allied health professionals representing 9 disciplines including leading pediatric stroke neurologists, physiatrists, and orthopedic surgeons.
The new group accomplished:
- Organizing an interdisciplinary group of experts committed to advancing pediatric stroke rehabilitation
- Presented an interdisciplinary approach to pediatric stroke at the Annual Conference
- Created recommendations for research directions
- The taskforce is working to use survey data to reach a consensus on knowledge translation tools for practice job aids, and evidence-based practice guidelines.
In 2020 the task force plans to:
- Publish at least 4 knowledge translation tools detailing interventions supported by the Canadian, Australian, and UK clinical practice guidelines
- Publish a white paper to demonstrate gaps in pediatric stroke research, required funding, and a pathway towards progress
- Present a symposium on addressing cognitive, behavioral, and social outcomes of pediatric stroke
Nursing Task Force
The purpose of this group of nursing scholars and clinicians is to perform activities that support ACRM’s mission of enhancing the lives of individuals with disabilities through interdisciplinary rehabilitation research.
