Researchers in CHHS’s Department of Rehabilitation Science are using a novel intervention to help people with incomplete spinal cord injury improve their walking performance.
Approximately 260,0000 people in the United States are living with spinal cord injuries, and 60 percent of those are classified as incomplete, that is, they have some sensory or motor function in the muscles below the level of the spinal cord injury, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. Physical rehabilitation for these patients is key to them gaining motor function; however, the financial burden on individuals and their families is high.
The Department of Rehabilitation Science’s research study is using locomotor training, which focuses on challenged practice and lower extremity weight bearing, in an over-ground environment to help improve their clients’ walking performance. The study is under the direction of Andrew Guccione, rehabilitation science department chair.
“We are taking locomotor training one step further than what’s in the literature by breaking the client’s gait down into very specific components,” said Gino Panza, rehabilitation science PhD student. “Some programs are just walking from point A to point B repeatedly. Our exercises are focused on different aspects of how a person walks, like weight transfer, weight shifts, and knee lifts.”
By breaking down a client’s gait into these specific elements, the researchers are able to identify—and the client’s are able to recognize—where they are experiencing errors or encountering difficulty when walking.
“We train in the environment that we want to see them improve in,” said Jared Gollie, rehabilitation science PhD student. “It’s a lot of practicing and allowing the clients to experience errors in their stepping and walking and allowing their body to recognize those errors and adapt accordingly.”
And one current client is quick to tout the benefits of the training he receives by participating in the study.
Parker Haller, 19, was injured during a summer trip to the Maryland coast when he jumped over an ocean wave headfirst and hit a sandbar. He has received therapy and training at numerous centers and programs since his injury and is now in his second 12-week session at Mason.
“I’ve seen lots of improvement in my progress [since training at Mason],” Haller said. “My flexibility has gotten a lot better. I’m also to shift my weight and balance myself more and do certain types of walking, like backward and lateral, that were really atrocious earlier in my recovery. The program hasn’t just improved what I was sort of good at; it’s improved what I wasn’t able to do at all.”
Parker’s mother, Miriam, accompanies him to his training sessions, and has also noticed a difference in Parker’s recovery since training with Mason’s program.
“Right from our initial meeting, I saw that they were really concentrating on specific things as opposed to what happens in traditional physical therapy,” she said. “The whole program is not just to get the foot to move, it’s let get that foot to move a certain way. I think it’s made a huge difference, and Parker’s made great progress.”
The rehabilitation science PhD students working with Parker have also noticed his progress, and while, they contribute that to the training design, they also note that Parker’s dedication and work ethic makes a difference as well.
“The quality of his movements is much better, and his ability to walk longer distances independently has improved dramatically,” Gollie said.
Panza added that, “None of these programs work if individuals don’t want to work or they don’t like it. And you never hear Parker complain. He comes in, he’s going to work, he works hard, and he comes back.”
Parker’s dedication to his recovery is easy to see as he walked (with a cane) across the stage at his high school graduation in 2015, nearly three years after his injury. After that, in July, he climbed the “Rocky” steps in Philadelphia. And in December, he reached another goal when he obtained his driver’s license.
“It’s nice that throughout my recovery, I’ve been able to go to different places and learn different things. It’s been three-and-a-half years since my injury, and when trainers give me advice, I can say, ‘yeah, I know what you’re talking about,’” Parker said. “But I still learn something new, and I’ve learned a lot of new things and been able to try a lot of new things since working in Mason’s program.”
For more information on the study and how you can help support the department, visit chhs.gmu.edu/rehabscience.
Watch a video of Parker in action with rehabilitation science PhD students.