More research funding needed to meet demand for ongoing advances in rehabilitation once Cinderella of medicine, says AUT expert

New Zealand urgently needs more research to help increasing and greater scope for ongoing advances in rehabilitation, once the Cinderella of medicine, a national expert said today in the build up to next month’s major Australasian rehabilitation conference in Queenstown.

Kathryn McPherson, the Laura Ferguson chair in rehabilitation at Auckland University of Technology, said that all possible recovery after a stroke or brain injury did not end after six or 12 months.

``We now know that further recovery can go on for many years and that different strategies are needed to maximise benefit. Research to demonstrate which interventions are best are urgently needed and we are doing a number looking at how to help people with stroke, brain injury and other conditions re-engage in meaningful activities.

``One of the important things we now know is that rehabilitation is like medication in some ways: you need the right dose at the right time to get a good effect. Although intensive rehabilitation early on may seem costly, interventions that reduce the impact of disability are likely to yield long term benefits for the person, their family and indeed reduce costs for society.

``Increasingly, research is showing that how health professionals relate and communicate with patients / clients is crucial for helping them engage in the rehabilitation process. Dealing with the long term effects of injury and illness is difficult and evidence is showing that including steps to develop trust and good communication can make a big difference.’’

She said that rehabilitation clients often responded to treatment quite differently from the way expected by researchers. But new technology, a greater understanding of the potential for recovery, retraining and re-growth, and including the experiences of the disabled in research all make the future of rehabilitation look much less bleak.

McPherson has carried out clinical and research work on people after stroke or traumatic brain injury but she has also explored rheumatoid arthritis, chronic pain or life threatening illness.

Some of the world’s leading experts will call on more research funding and offer new treatment ideas at the Australasian rehabilitation conference in Queenstown on July 21-25. About 250 New Zealand and Australian specialists in rehabilitation will discuss the major issues facing their medical treatment area.

Dr Gale Whiteneck of Colorado will touch on spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury and mortality after brain injury in his address. Whiteneck’s investigations focus on functional assessment, handicap/participation measurement and long-term outcomes.

Conference organiser Dr Duncan Reid of Auckland said Brisbane’s Michele Sterling, a world leading researcher in physiotherapy management, will talk about whiplash. Sterling investigated whiplash associated disorders and neck pain and has published works on spine pain.

``Harry McNaughton is another key speaker who is also a researcher in the management of stroke and one of the authors of the ACC guidelines into the management of traumatic brain injury which is a large cost item for ACC,’’ Reid said.

The conference will also include the 17th annual scientific meeting of the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.

Weekly compensation claims and social rehabilitation for clients with serious injury make up over 60 percent of ACC’s claims liability of $19.6 billion. Claims liability is the amount of money required to fully fund the cost of all claims during their lifetime. Weekly compensation claims amount to a liability of $5.5 billion and social rehabilitation claims for seriously injured clients to a liability of $5.8 billion.