Project 459108

The majority of people who sustain a stroke have partial or complete paralysis of one hand which causes difficulty in performing daily activities. These difficulties often continue even after completing intensive functional rehabilitation. The persistence of these difficulties is in part explained by the challenges encountered by rehabilitation professionals when attempting to implement evidence-based practice: rehabilitation evidence for adults with hand hemiparesis following a stroke recommends the practice of high-intensity activity-based therapy (up to 2000 repetitions/day) to optimize functional recovery of the hand. Yet, adhering to these principles in clinical practice remains difficult due to various clinical and administrative constraints. Therefore, the use of a soft robotic glove is a promising and affordable solution to intensify and personalize therapy while limiting rehabilitation professional constraints. The goal of this project is to evaluate the feasibility, safety, efficacy, and satisfaction of a novel robotic-assisted hand rehabilitation program (ROASH) completed with a soft robotic glove, requiring indirect supervision of a rehabilitation professional, and developed to be added to conventional rehabilitation (CR). Thirty adults who have difficulty performing power and precision grasps following a stroke, will be recruited and randomly assigned to a control (i.e., CR + hand exercise program without soft robotic glove; n = 15) or an experimental group (i.e., CR + ROASH; n = 15) for a 6-week period. This study will inform on the feasibility, safety, immediate efficacy, and participant satisfaction of adding ROASH to intensify CR and improve power and precision grasps in adults who sustained a stroke. Results may confirm that a soft robotic glove allows rehabilitation professionals to better increase therapy intensity and optimize hand recovery and function.