A new telerehabilitation service for stroke patients will be available to residents of Cameron County in the Rio Grande Valley. This initiative is part of a randomized clinical trial led by researchers from UTHealth Houston.
The study involves investigators from the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in Brownsville, the UTHealth Houston Institute for Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, and the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston. They are developing software to be delivered through a website for patients who have recently experienced a stroke.
“The key point is that the Rio Grande Valley is an underserved community and many people are uninsured,” stated Fadi Musfee, MD, PhD, MPH, lead investigator and assistant professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health. “It’s hard for them to go to rehabilitation after a stroke. If they don’t receive rehabilitation, it’s a big burden.”
The multidisciplinary team includes co-investigators Belinda Reininger, DrPH, MPH; Sean Savitz, MD; Xiaoqian Jiang, PhD; and Emily Stevens, DrPH, MOT. Musfee, Reininger, and Jiang are members of the stroke institute with Savitz serving as director.
Participants will be divided into two groups: one receiving telerehabilitation via Mobile Rehab software developed by Stevens and Jiang; the other serving as controls. The program prescribes personalized video regimens based on individual motor skills deficits. It includes community health worker visits for progress checks and education while control participants receive social services resources.
Researchers aim to assess functional health outcomes and identify barriers in adopting this model during the nine-month study involving 30 uninsured participants aged 18-80 discharged from Valley Baptist Medical Center within a month prior to enrollment.
Funding comes from UTHealth Houston Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences.
For more information about the study or media inquiries contact: [email protected] or call (956) 755-0676 / 713-500-3030.
