Welcome to...

Exercises of Cognitive physiotherapy

Obstacle courses for different purposes

Persons with balance issues, may need to practise demanding mobility skills. In this exercise one person is moving around looking for hidden pices of paper of different colours. At the same time another person is asked to fulfil a cognitive task. The person moving in the obstacle course is producing the disturbance. Afterwards they may switch roles, and discuss the experience.

Two purposes

1. Test your balance/attention

2. Test the ability to resist disturbance

Cognitive physiotherapy (sample)

Here is a handout, produced to present exercises tailored for the participants in the study of 2018. The exercises had meaning for the patients as simulations of real work, or real life situations. All the participants needed information on their physical performance and the ability to achieve cognitive tasks at the same time. Almost 20 different exercises are represented. The exercises also demonstrated the need for, and practise of, cognitive strategies, In the study, the well established strategies "Goal-plan-do-review" or "Stop-think-act", were commonly used. By using these strategies at the rehabilitation gym, the patients got familiar in using them, and transfered them into different settings. A generalisation process could take place.

Research Highlights

1. Balance or coordination exercises with cognitive demands.

2. Measures that indicate increase of function.

3. Creating exact knowledge of ability and performance.

4. Inspiration to develop outside physiotherapy settings (ADL).

The study of 2018

Five participants, all with a stroke diagnose and with a moderate to mild degree impairment, were selected. They were introduced to and had motivation for the new intervention, cognitive physiotherapy. They were aiming at getting back to work or back to an active lifestyle. This is the study without attachments. The study was part of my personal graduation at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm

Research Highlights

1. Abstract

2. Introduction w background, objective and research questions

3. Method

4. Ethical considerations

5. Results

6. Discussion

7. Conclusion

8. References