Prism Adaptation Treatment (PAT) for Right Brain Stroke Rehabilitation
VA Office of Research and Development
Summary
After a right brain stroke, \>50% of Veterans experience problems with dressing, eating, self-care or steering their wheelchairs because their ability to move, orient, and respond toward the left side is limited: spatial neglect. Spatial neglect prevents them from functioning independently, and their needs in the hospital and at home are greatly increased. An effective treatment for spatial neglect is 10 days of visuomotor training while wearing optical prisms (PAT), however many clinicians \[fail to diagnose spatial neglect and use this approach. In this study, the investigators will develop a brain scanning test that could objectively identify the Veterans with spatial neglect after stroke who are the best candidates to receive PAT and recover their ability to function. When the research is complete, the investigators expect that brain scans done in the hospital can guide the team to refer Veterans to PAT rehabilitation: improving daily life function\] and quality of life.
Description
Project Summary/Abstract The application addresses the formidable treatment gap for cognitive rehabilitation of spatial neglect (SN), defined as asymmetric orienting, perception, and responding to left space after right brain stroke, causing functional disability. Although Veterans with SN are half as likely to return home, have one-third the community mobility, require 3x as much caregiver supervision, and have longer hospitalizations, increased fall risk and increased rehospitalization compared with similar right brain stroke survivors, a personalized approach to SN rehabilitation is not ava…