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Falls After Spinal Cord Injury: Causes, Consequences And Creative Solutions.
Abstract
Each year about 75% of community-dwelling individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) will fall; this is a higher fall incidence than that seen in other neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. Falling can have many adverse consequences, such as injury, hospital admission, reduced mobility and participation in daily activities, to name a few. Despite the high risk of falling, little is known about the causes and consequences of falls, or how fall risk can be reduced, in the SCI population. Drs. Oates and Musselman will discuss their joint work that aims to address these gaps in our knowledge and result in more effective fall prevention strategies for the SCI population.
Speaker Information
Dr. Kristin Musselman
Kristin Musselman, PT PhD, is a Scientist with the Neural Engineering and Therapeutics Team at TRI-UHN, an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto, and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Physical Therapy at the University of Saskatchewan. Her research is focused on the rehabilitation for adults and children with neurological conditions, including methods of training gait, balance and upper limb function.
Dr. Alison Oates
Alison Oates PhD is an Assistant Professor in the College of Kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan. Her research focuses on sensorimotor integration during walking and walking balance in populations with instability. Alison will discuss collaborative research with Dr. Musselman investigating reactive and proactive balance during walking in individuals with incomplete SCI. She will also highlight the Biomechanics of Balance And Movement (BBAM) Lab of which she is a co-director.