Knee conditions: evaluating movement toolkit interventions

Physiotherapy remains a cornerstone for musculoskeletal condition management.

However, concerns remain over how to accurately assess movement to evaluate progress, provide patient feedback and determine appropriate treatment options. This is largely because assessment is being undertaken using subjective outcome measures or inconsistent tools.

Our research has addressed this unmet need through the development of a novel portable toolkit. This uses affordable wearable technology allowing rigorous real-time movement assessment and feedback for patients and clinicians.

The next stage of our research is to integrate this toolkit into a new physiotherapy intervention. Before this we need to evaluate the attitudes of end-users (clinicians and patients) on user requirements, potential benefits and barriers and facilitators to integration in healthcare.

Engagement

In this engagement project we will organise drop-in sessions for patients and physiotherapists to experience the toolkit and provide feedback. This will be used to create an engagement video, informing patients and the public about our research and helping them understand how the toolkit should be integrated into healthcare as a new intervention.

Four roadshows with industry representation will be conducted in physiotherapy departments across Wales, which will demonstrate and share learning opportunities to end-users about the toolkit and its usage in patient care.

The Sensory Physiotherapy Intervention (SPIN) Research Group tell us about how technology helps with movement rehabilitation.(SPIN) Research Group's video

The mission of the SPIN research group is to excel in research and the use of digital technology in movement science and rehabilitation, aimed at finding innovative solutions to delivering even better quality of healthcare and outcomes for those living with musculoskeletal knee conditions.

Funding

This project is funded by The Wellcome Trust.

Research lead

Project team