Dr. Simon Mills, principal clinician at the South Australian Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service, dives into the critical role of postural alignment in recovery from acquired brain injuries. With over 20 years of experience, he discusses how proper alignment can significantly enhance mobility and overall wellbeing for patients with severe impairments. Simon emphasizes the interplay between biomechanics and cognitive rehabilitation, and the need for comprehensive assessments in physiotherapy. He also highlights ongoing research aimed at bridging gaps in clinical practice.

Professor Susan Hillier is a Professor of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation and Dean of Research in Allied Health and Human Performance at the University of South Australia. Her teaching and research interests are broadly in neuroscience and rehabilitation. She has particular interest in the role of afferent stimulation and training using multi-modal feedback. Susan is also trained in Feldenkrais and works clinically at the university private practice. She is especially experienced in Cochrane and other Systematic reviews. We cover most of these topics in this episode! – check out the show notes below. Intro 6.16Proprioception Research 7.15Sensory perception 10.00Feldenkrais training 15.50The Neuroscience Behind Body Image workshops 23.30Afferent Feedback – know what you're doing to make better choices 26.00Clinical Reasoning & Generating new ideas in practice 30.20Supervising PhD students 35.15Obtaining grant funding 37.57Gender discrepancy in research 40.08Systematic reviews 49.06Prof Hillier's Research Gatehttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Susan-Hillier Uni SA profilehttps://people.unisa.edu.au/susan.hillier& so much moreA bi-monthly podcast where we share the stories of our Caregivers, patients and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyLike our podcast and want to support us?Share the show with your friends & colleagues, give us a rating on your podcast platform or Buy us a coffee. Matt & Erin run the podcast out of their own time and resources. We'd love to update our recording equipment & cover our podcast publishing costs. Buy us a coffee if you can.

Professor Nora Shields is a prolific researcher in the youth disability space. Dr Shields is a professor of physiotherapy at La Trobe university in Melbourne, Australia. She hails from Ireland completing her Physiotherapy degree and PhD at Trinity College in Dublin, and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education. Dr Shields developed a program called FitSkills, an innovative program which facilitates young people with disability (YPWD) to exercise with a physiotherapy student mentor, addressing the lack of social support barrier to physical activity for YPWD. Nora tells us about the program and how it’s making a difference to the lives of YPWD as well as physio students. We also chat about the less general skills you learn by doing a PhD and explore some of the social and societal barriers preventing YPWD living their best lives.Nora’s bio – 3.23Intro – 5.16Career pathway – 6.16PhD - inelectro therapy – 11.44Skills you gain in a PhD – writing – 16.03Physical activity in disability benefits – 19.22 Barriers – 22.52FitSkills story – 27.34Contact theory in fit skills – 37.04Importance of experience with YPWD for Physios & health workforce – 38.32YPWD in the workforce – 44.46FitSkills early outcomes – 46.24New project Gym Spark – 51.56Final thoughts - Prevention, Brain Health & Adult care of YPWD – 55.19Prof Shield’s Latrobe Uni profile (contact details & publications tab) https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/nshieldsLinkedIn - https://au.linkedin.com/in/nora-shields-a401226Research Gate - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nora-ShieldsTwitter - @DrNoraShields& so much moreA bi-monthly podcast where we share the stories of our Caregivers, patients and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyLike our podcast and want to support us?Share the show with your friends & colleagues, give us a rating on your podcast platform or Buy us a coffee. Matt & Erin run the podcast out of their own time and resources. We'd love to update our recording equipment & cover our podcast publishing costs. Buy us a coffee if you can.

Dr. Leeanne Carey, Head of the Neurorehabilitation and Recovery Research Group at the Florey Institute, dives into the hidden complexities of sensory deficits post-stroke. She discusses the importance of addressing sensory loss in therapy, revealing it as a common yet overlooked issue for clinicians. Carey shares insights about her innovative SENSe therapy, emphasizing the role of neural plasticity and technology in rehabilitation. She also highlights collaborative approaches in care and advances in accessibility to enhance recovery for stroke survivors.

In this episode, we explore using technology in your clinical practice in a really practical and realistic way with Dr. Kelly Bower who completed her PhD in technology use in rehabilitation. Join us as we discuss Wii, Kinect, newer rehab-specific devices, the evidence base, barriers & facilitators in the clinic and what patients get out of tech - be ready for some surprises here! Kelly also shares her journey through PhD to educator & researcher whilst remaining a clinician. Her story will help others searching for a similar path.Intro - 3.56Career pathway - 6.12Phd research - Wii balance board as Ax & intervention - 11.23Using Wii balance board as a force platform or as a clinical OM - 16.01The motivation of tech for both intervention and tracking progress - 20.00What is it about tech that is interesting? - 21.24What are the limitations? - 24.23Linking use of tech to goals - a tailored intervention - 25.22Evidence base variability - 26.40Clinicians' thoughts on tech - 31.45Advice for addressing barriers - 34.20Best devices? - 35.49Kelly developing a video game - 39.00Emerging tech rehab devices - 46.54How Kelly balances her workload (pun intended!) - 49.40LinksKelly’s University ProfileResources to support selection and clinical implementation:Website on using the Kinect in rehabilitationA Clinical Decision-Making Framework for the Use of Video Gaming as a Therapeutic ModalityPapers and ReferencesClinical feasibility of the Nintendo Wii™ for balance training post-stroke:Clinical feasibility of interactive motion-controlled games for stroke rehabilitationWhat factors influence clinicians’ use of technology in neurorehabilitation?Quiet standing postural control variables in subacute stroke& so much moreA bi-monthly podcast where we share the stories of our Caregivers, patients and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyLike our podcast and want to support us?Share the show with your friends & colleagues, give us a rating on your podcast platform or Buy us a coffee. Matt & Erin run the podcast out of their own time and resources. We'd love to update our recording equipment & cover our podcast publishing costs. Buy us a coffee if you can.

Heidi is the queen of the concept of environmental enrichment to maximise recovery potential post stroke and other neurological conditions. She shares all about her work in this episode, including her latest venture partnering with end users to develop a community model for environmental enrichment (ESTEEM). We also chat about the Yarning Up After Stroke program she co-leads, designed to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stroke survivors take control of their stroke recovery.4.06 Intro4.39 Current roles & Career pathway6.45 Perspective as a clinician in health system and researcher8.15 Engaging with the community to ascertain research priorities11.00 Environmental enrichment (EE) community model15.34 Good intervention development - Basic science to clinical research to clinical practice18.23 Competing demands in research19.34 Components of ESTEEM community groupWhat carers want out of EE groupsHow to measure these components26.25 Rehabilitation in a utopian world28.20 Overcoming barriers in EE research32.50 Virtual vs Reality in EE36.48 Crucial elements of EE38.21 How to apply EE in the clinic42.25 Being a change agent of EE44.15 Yarning Up After StrokePapers and ReferencesEnriched environment researchLinksDr. Janssen’s Newcastle University profileESTEEM studyYarning Up After Stroke& so much moreA bi-monthly podcast where we share the stories of our Caregivers, patients and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyLike our podcast and want to support us?Share the show with your friends & colleagues, give us a rating on your podcast platform or Buy us a coffee. Matt & Erin run the podcast out of their own time and resources. We'd love to update our recording equipment & cover our podcast publishing costs. Buy us a coffee if you can.

Emeritus Professor Sheila Lennon is semi-retired but still manages to keep driving powerful change for neuro patients. She's from Flinders university in Adelaide South Australia, has worked all over the world, and stays involved on the Physiotherapy Board of Australia and the Chartered society of Physiotherapy in the UK. She's a clinician and educator, continues clinical work for the MS society, has been an important contributor to our global body World Physiotherapy and has edited neurology textbooks. This episode covers her divisive research on the bobath concept, her thoughts on the complex interventions we provide and whether they are effective, clinical reasoning frameworks and her passionate work in self-management in multiple sclerosis. Sheila has fantastic perspectives on physio from her broad worldview3:30 - Intro4:24 - Experience around the world13:00 - Be a healthy sceptic15:30 - Keeping the passion19:25 - Sheila's career growth20:45 - Balancing part time PhD22:40 - Bobath and theoretical assumptions28:35 - Complex interventions31:10 - Taking the RCT to interventions33:15 - Is the RCT the gold standard for physio research36:28 - Work with MS42:25 - What is unique for physio management of MS44:55 - The importance of motivation48:05 - Reflection and clinical reasoning51:20 - New inclusions to undergrad53:30 - Flinders University Chronic Disease Management55:30 - INPAReferences and Papers:Self-Management:– Feasibility of an integrated stroke self-management programme: a cluster randomised controlled trial– Self-management programmes for people post stroke: a systematic reviewBobath:– The Effectiveness of the Bobath Concept in Stroke Rehabilitation – Gait outcome following outpatient physiotherapy based on the Bobath concept in people post stroke– The Bobath concept: a critical review of the theoretical assumptions that guide physiotherapy practice in stroke rehabilitationLinks:APA National Neurology Group on-demand lecture on Self-management-focused-falls-prevention for people with MSINPAPlease contact Sheila on sheila.lennon@flinders.edu.au if you are interested in obtaining free access to materials for clients and therapists on the MSFP program offered by the MS Society of SA & so much moreA bi-monthly podcast where we share the stories of our Caregivers, patients and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyLike our podcast and want to support us?Share the show with your friends & colleagues, give us a rating on your podcast platform or Buy us a coffee. Matt & Erin run the podcast out of their own time and resources. We'd love to update our recording equipment & cover our podcast publishing costs. Buy us a coffee if you can.

Paul Fink survived a large left fronto-temporo-parietal brain haemorrhage secondary to an AVM aneurysm at the age of 34. His attitude to life is one we should all learn from and it continues to help him achieve his goals 8 years on. Paul's new podcast My Stroke of Luck aims to share this wisdom. What he's doing for the stroke community and what he teaches us about providing rehab is impressive.10.06 Intro12:35 Current work - public speaking, blog, podcast15.04 Impact of Paul's blog on stroke survivors18.14 Paul's stroke & rehab experience24.46 Resilience, My Stroke of Luck podcast32.40 Global aphasia38.30 Dealing with a negative mindset42.43 Giving back to the stroke community47.58 Paul's current rehabLinks:Paul’s websitePaul’s Podcast on apple podcasts& so much moreA bi-monthly podcast where we share the stories of our Caregivers, patients and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyLike our podcast and want to support us?Share the show with your friends & colleagues, give us a rating on your podcast platform or Buy us a coffee. Matt & Erin run the podcast out of their own time and resources. We'd love to update our recording equipment & cover our podcast publishing costs. Buy us a coffee if you can.

Professor Steven Wolf, a legend in neuro rehab, discusses vagus nerve stimulation, personalized care, telerehab, patient-tech expectations, and peer support in the future of neuro rehab. He emphasizes observation, questioning treatment mechanisms, and hands-on clinical experience. The podcast explores Tai Chi's role in fall prevention, the power of vagus nerve stimulation in stroke recovery, outcome measures, patient perception, and the evolution of physical therapy practices.

Professor Prue Morgan is head of department at Monash University, Melbourne - Australia. She is a self professed yes person and expert in adults with cerebral palsy. We discuss her career journey, her passion for cerebral palsy and teaching philosophy.4:45 - Career path8:00 - Why cerebral palsy10:40 - Drop of in care for adults with CP11:50 - Filling the gaps in CP care13:00 - Keeping the passion14:20 - Neuroplastic potential vs compensate for success16:05 - key principles of working with CP18:30 - Team and importance of seating and positioning21:40 - Fatigue in CP23:30 - Barriers to participation in CP26:25 - Resources to assist CP knowledge for therapists30:15 - Prue's PhD34:00 - Transitioning into Academia35:30 - Teaching tips for successful student placements40:15 - Value of observation43:00 - Importance of feedback to grow and learn44:55 - Developing evaluation skills in students46:20 - Committee work and taking opportunitiesReferences and Papers:Gait function and decline in adults with cerebral palsy: a systematic reviewPrue’s research outputLinks:Prue’s Monash Uni profile& so much moreA bi-monthly podcast where we share the stories of our Caregivers, patients and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyLike our podcast and want to support us?Share the show with your friends & colleagues, give us a rating on your podcast platform or Buy us a coffee. Matt & Erin run the podcast out of their own time and resources. We'd love to update our recording equipment & cover our podcast publishing costs. Buy us a coffee if you can.