The REA Foundation is currently funding the replacement of medical equipment: auditory localization evaluation system (SELA).

SELA makes it possible to evaluate auditory localization abilities, which are essential for ensuring that deaf-blind clients are able get around safely and autonomously in real-life situations. SELA is used to respond to the needs of the deaf-blind clientele served by the joint Surdicécité program, but also those in western Québec who require an evaluation in auditory localization in order to maintain and develop their ability to get around safely and autonomously.

The REA Foundation is currently funding the participation of the Parents Plus Clinic at the Parents and Kids Fair.

By participating in the April 2019 edition, the Parents Plus Clinic allows parents and future parents with disabilities to know the existence of the clinic and thus be able to legitimize the project to start a family despite a physical disability.

The REA Foundation is currently funding the development of an implementation and clinical intervention guide for the social circus program for physical rehabilitation.

The project involves developing a guide that describes the social circus program for physical rehabilitation in order to ensure the sustainability of this service within the CCSMTL and beyond, and to enable the transfer of this innovative practice to young people with physical disabilities during their transition from school to active adult life.

The REA Foundation is currently funding the purchase of equipment to assess, treat and monitor vestibular and neurological patients.

The highly specialized vestibular re-education clinic of the Institut de réadaptation Gingras-Lindsay de-Montréal (IRGLM) has developed one of the most enviable reputations in its field of expertise. Vestibular deficit disorders are conditions that are difficult to treat and require specialized care. Professionals at the vestibular clinic help their patients overcome vertigo and dizziness and regain their balance.

The REA Foundation is currently funding the upgrade of evaluations of interns and their workstations.

The IRGLM receives some 650 students a year from various milieus, including medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, social service, psychology, nursing, nutrition and others. These students come to develop their skills through workplace internships. The project seeks to provide better evaluation and feedback to these interns.

The REA Foundation is currently funding the renewal of Quebec Sign Language (LSQ) training material.

The Installation Raymond-Dewar has been providing Quebec Sign Language training for close to 40 years. An incredible number of people have come to Raymond-Dewar to learn the language as well as the culture of the deaf community. In the last five years alone (2012-2016), more than 2600 people between the ages of 11 and 79 have participated in different levels of training (LSQ 1 to 6). This is often their first contact with a deaf person, since instruction is provided by deaf instructors. For this reason, and because LSQ instruction is so important for the Installation Raymond-Deawr and the CIUSSS, the REA Foundation decided to support this project to modernize and update the teaching material (the last revision was in 1997).

The REA Foundation is currently funding a team of specialists in the application and generalization of expertise

With the goal of introducing to the organization a culture of evidence-based continuous improvement, a team of specialists in the application and generalization of expertise (SAGEs) has been established and became operational in fall 2011 with financial support from the Foundation. The SAGEs’ mandate is to encourage clinicians to reflect on their current practices in order to promote the implementation of best practices in their program. They work to coordinate, promote and facilitate the adoption of best practices under the authority of program leaders.

This project receives support from the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation.

In addition to the above-mentioned projects, the REA Foundation has established a Bridging Fund to provide funding to patients that contributes directly to their autonomy and their social integration.

This measure makes it possible for eligible individuals to receive annual financial assistance of up to $100 for purchases or fees that are not covered.

REA Foundation scholarship awarded to Dr. Aurélie Houle in contribution to her fellowship.

The initiative will improve care for patients suffering from a complex stroke.

The one-year fellowship will take place in the physical medicine and rehabilitation department of the Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, in Paris. This university institution has always been renowned for its expertise in neurology and neurological rehabilitation, among other things.

REA Foundation scholarship awarded to Dr. Aurélie Houle in contribution to her fellowship.
The initiative will improve care for patients suffering from a complex stroke.
The one-year fellowship will take place in the physical medicine and rehabilitation department of the Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, in Paris. This university institution has always been renowned for its expertise in neurology and neurological rehabilitation, among other things.

REA Foundation scholarship awarded to Dr. Aurélie Houle in contribution to her fellowship.
The initiative will improve care for patients suffering from a complex stroke.
The one-year fellowship will take place in the physical medicine and rehabilitation department of the Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, in Paris. This university institution has always been renowned for its expertise in neurology and neurological rehabilitation, among other things.

Dr. Aurélie Houle’s duties will include:

• taking into her care patients who are in the acute phase of a complex stroke and following them from the vascular neurology unit, through to their intensive functional rehabilitation and their return home;
• working in specialized clinics for stroke patients who present one or more complications, including spasticity, bladder-sphincter disorders, vestibular disorders and cognitive impairments;
• participating in clinical research with Professor Pascale Pradat-Diehl (specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation) to study post-stroke cognitive impairments and neurorehabilitation;
• participating in research projects in neuromodulation at the brain and spinal cord institute affiliated with the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital;
• participating in departmental and neuroscience meetings, both of which are forums to discuss different subjects regarding post-stroke rehabilitation and neurological rehabilitation in general.

Upon her return, Dr. Aurélie Houle will:

• offer highly specialized, cutting-edge care in the area of neurorehabilitation and the management of possible complications from a stroke;
• work in intensive functional rehabilitation with stroke patients at the Institut de réadaptation Gingras-Lindsay-de-Montréal;
• offer highly specialized services in the diagnosis and treatment of complications that can arise from a stroke;
• continue her involvement in research by developing France-Quebec multi-centric research projects with an eye to optimizing knowledge in neurorehabilitation.

An approach based on collaboration

Dr. Aurélie Houle completed her doctorate in medicine and her residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Université de Montréal. Next September, she will begin a master’s degree in University Pedagogy for Health Sciences, with the goal of specializing in teaching medicine.

She would like to be involved in training future physiatrists, and optimize knowledge sharing between medical fields and various health professionals directly or indirectly involved in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

She is also interested in teaching patients and their loved ones about their disease and possible complications.

In addition, on the basis of her experience during this fellowship year, she would like to develop a fellowship program within the IRGLM’s stroke program that would promote collaborations with other stroke rehabilitation programs nationally and internationally.

“Teamwork between the patient, their loved ones and various health professionals is an integral part of my medical practice,” said Dr. Houle. “This collaboration is essential, since, among other things, it makes it possible to offer an optimal interdisciplinary treatment plan adapted to the patient’s objectives in terms of health, autonomy and quality of life. This principle of cooperation is especially important in neurorehabilitation, a highly specialized field in physical medicine and rehabilitation that I am particularly interested in.”

The REA Foundation has allocated $10,500 for the purchase of specialized equipment that will enable experts at Lucie-Bruneau to offer the most effective care and treatment for vestibular disorders.

In recent years, more has become known about vestibular problems, making them easier to identify. Dizziness and loss of balance have a major impact on a person’s autonomy and quality of life, and hinder the rehabilitation process. In the stroke and other neurological disorders program at the Centre de réadaptation en déficience physique Lucie-Bruneau, there has been an increase in physiotherapy referrals directly related to this condition. In fact, 40 to 60% of physiotherapy clients present vestibular disorders that must be assessed and treated.

Concrete progress

Vestibular problems can be peripheral (the vestibular system in the inner ear) or central (the brain). A rigorous assessment makes it possible to identify the cause of dizziness so that a treatment plan adapted to the person’s condition can be provided. Currently, professionals must conduct full examinations with the naked eye, without any specialized equipment. However, certain clinical tests require the use of assessment goggles that prevent ocular fixation and make it possible to properly diagnose the problem. The acquisition of these goggles will refine assessments and prevent false negatives due to compensation through visual fixation.

In addition, this equipment will enable peer training during the analysis of the recordings. But above all, the main objective is to significantly improve the function and quality of life of people who suffer from these disorders.

An exponentially positive impact

In addition to stroke patients, many of the people who receive treatment at Lucie-Bruneau suffer from chronic pain or have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis. Since vestibular disorders, whether peripheral or central, can occur in all of these clienteles, the vestibular goggles will serve the purposes of all of Centre’s physiotherapists.

The REA Foundation purchases a $1,000 adapted tricycle for people with physical limitations.

This adapted tricycle allows people in rehabilitation to resume a sport in a safe and autonomous manner. One of the areas of focus in kinesiology is to make sports accessible to all types of clientele with physical limitations following a medical diagnosis like a stroke, multiple sclerosis, pain, etc. Many of these people practised cycling prior to their condition, and many want to resume this sport in a safe way that is adapted to their new condition. Before receiving funding from the REA Foundation, the Institute only had an adapted bike for clients with major balance or coordination problems, paresis, muscular weakness, low endurance, etc. Now, kinesiologists can respond to the needs of more users and support them in resuming this activity.

The tricycle helps users feel immediately at ease and in control of their balance, which is impossible on a bicycle. With six speeds, users can work at different intensities and progress to the next stage.

Lastly, resuming physical activity after a diagnosis promotes community integration, continues to improve the parameters of physical condition and decreases the risk factors associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

A new tool for traumatic brain injury victims. Thanks to a $5 165 donation to the REA Foundation from Andrea and John David Miller, victims of a traumatic brain injury and people suffering from a balance disorder will benefit from a new state-of-the-art device.

The Institut de réadaptation Gingras-Lindsay-de-Montréal (IRGLM) will now be able to purchase a head tracker. As its name implies, this tool detects head movement. Placed on the user’s head, it assesses how head movement impacts their balance when standing.

A physiotherapist specialized in vestibular rehabilitation can then provide a more adapted and precise service to the IRGLM patient. This is particularly helpful for victims of a traumatic brain injury or people suffering from a balance disorder when standing, which affects their daily activities.

The REA Foundation is funding the creation of a highly specialized research laboratory at the Raymond Dewar Institute for the rehabilitation of people who are deaf, deaf-blind, have a language disorder or an auditory processing disorder.

The acquisition of technologies such as Neuroscan and Eyelink II will allow the measurement of changes in brain activity during listening exercises and visual stimuli. Thanks to the laboratory, professionals will be able to personalize rehabilitation services, evaluate the added value of interventions and adjust clinical support, develop new means of rehabilitation and build research projects on the client experience.

Nearly 1,500 children, 400 teenagers and 2,700 adults with hearing loss, hearing processing disorders, deafblindness or language disorders are currently users at the Raymond-Dewar Institute.

Dance therapy has been added to the programs offered to people with a physical disability! The REA Foundation provides financial support for the implementation of training tools that will enable workers at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal (CCSMTL) and other institutions to offer this type of program.

An innovative dance therapy option is now being offered to the users of the CCSMTL’s physical disability programs. Led by rehabilitation professionals, this therapy combines body expression and dance improvisation with rehabilitation principles.
Since 2009, physical disability dance therapy has been helping adults with varied profiles: amputation, stroke sequelae, spinal cord injury, neurodegenerative disease, etc. Dance enables them to reclaim their bodies and explore a broad spectrum of movements in a context of acceptance.

To see how they benefit from this therapeutic approach, watch this AMI-télé report (in French).

Facilitating knowledge transfer
The REA Foundation recently allocated $28,600 to produce a guide for dance therapists as well as various training tools for the CCSMTL. This assistance will also make it possible for other organizations to offer this therapy to a greater number of people with physical disabilities.

Combining expertise
Physical disability dance therapy was introduced by Brigitte Lachance, a physiotherapist and professional choreographer. Others, including occupational therapists Chloé Proulx-Goulet and Maude Guérette, have contributed to evolving this therapeutic approach. Support from managers such as Marie-Ève Demers, head of the Amputés-BOG program, was decisive in integrating dance therapy in the services offered by the CCSMTL. The important scientific dimension of the project is led by researchers Bonnie Swaine and Frédérique Poncet, of the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation du Montréal métropolitain. Manon Parisien, of the Institut universitaire sur la réadaptation en déficience physique de Montréal, has been working to help establish physical disability dance therapy as a leading-edge practice.

To learn more about physical disability dance therapy

• Description of the physical disability dance therapy program at the CCSMTL (Lachance and collaborators, 2018) (in French)
• Scientific article on a recent study on physical disability dance therapy (Lachance and collaborators, 2020) (in French)

The REA Foundation contributes $41,000 to Dr. Stéphanie Jean’s fellowship.

An initiative to improve care for amputees and serious burn victims.

The REA Foundation awards a $41,000 scholarship to Dr. Stéphanie Jean’s fellowship. Her training will enable the Institut universitaire sur la réadaptation en déficience physique de Montreal to offer the most advanced rehabilitation care to amputees and severe burn victims in Quebec. With this contribution, Dr. Jean will become the first physician in Quebec to offer such highly specialized care in this area.

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