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About TeleCIMT for Participants & Supporters

What is TeleCIMT?

TeleCIMT is a three-week home-based Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) program developed by an international group of therapists experienced in CIMT. Your home is the most relevant place to increase use of your weaker arm.

Is TeleCIMT suitable for me?

TeleCIMT has been designed for people over the age of 18 who have a neurological condition such as stroke, resulting in weakness of one arm. It targets people who have learned to depend on their stronger arm in everyday life, but have the potential to increase the use of their weaker arm. Your therapist will screen you for suitability for the program including checking whether you have enough movement. If you are able to pick up an object with your weaker hand and let it go again onto a table at least three times in one minute, you may be eligible for the program. You will need access to a device for video calls, e.g. a laptop.

What support will I receive?

You’ll work together with a named ‘supporter’. This could be a partner, family member or friend, who wants to help you in your recovery.

The program requires the guidance of a qualified physiotherapist and or occupational therapist who will provide support via tele-rehabilitation sessions (video calls). These calls take place regularly throughout the program, and as they are home-based, you’ll save time on travelling to hospital and clinic appointments.

How does a TeleCIMT program run?

The program runs five days a week for three weeks with mitt-wearing for six hours a day to restrict the use of your stronger arm.

During this time, you’ll work intensively on chosen activities that tackle the specific movement problems you and your therapist identify.

The program requires commitment from both you and your supporter, but the concentrated hard work you put in over just three weeks will give you the chance of improving your arm use and the confidence you have in your abilities.

About the TeleCIMT TIDE Group

These free resources have been developed by the TIDE (TeleCIMT International DEvelopment) Group of occupational therapists and physiotherapists to help participants and therapists prepare for and conduct a remote three-week TeleCIMT program.

When the Covid-19 lockdown first hit the UK in March 2020, the TIDE group came together to develop resources to support the delivery of CIMT remotely. The aim was to enable the provision of intensive home-based arm therapy, despite worldwide social restrictions.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, all TIDE Group members have worked voluntarily in their own time to develop these TeleCIMT resources. Each team member has made significant intellectual contributions to the design, revision and editing of all resources on this website. Collectively, they have shared a significant amount of clinical and educational CIMT resource materials and developed these for use in TeleCIMT.

JESSAMY BOYDELL - Lead Resource Developer & Specialist Neurological Occupational Therapist
DR LAUREN CHRISTIE - PhD, Occupational Therapist and Senior Implementation Science Research Fellow - Allied Health
ANNIE MEHARG - Specialist Neurological Physiotherapist
ANNA KILKENNY - Neurological Physiotherapist

Acknowledgements

The following therapists provided valuable information and/or feedback on program content, and generously shared their resources/knowledge:

Dr Annie McCluskey, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Discipline of Occupational Therapy, The University of Sydney & The StrokeEd Collaboration, Sydney, Australia.
Dr Sarah Blanton, Associate Professor, Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
Dr Arlette Doussoulin, Assistant Professor, Pediatric and Surgery, University de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile
Dr Praveen Kumar, Senior Lecturer, Physiotherapy, University of West England, Bristol, United Kingdom.
Jill Kings, Occupational Therapist, Clinical Director, Neural Pathways, Gateshead, United Kingdom.
Dr Jill Whitall, PhD, FNAK, Professor Emerita, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science, USA.

The following occupational therapy candidates at Australian Catholic University provided valuable contribution to the development of written and video resources:

Iris Ly
Brigitte Mcintosh
Elizabeth Shaw
Jacqueline Cavalletto

We also thank the CIMT participants and their supporters who have allowed their photos to be used for our project and who provided valuable feedback on program content and resource development. We acknowledge the pioneering work of Dr Edward Taub and his team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in developing the concept of CIMT.

Disclaimer

TeleCIMT resources has been produced in good faith by the TIDE group for the information and use by qualified healthcare professionals (occupational therapists and physiotherapists) only.

A TeleCIMT program is a specific, specialised program that is not intended to be suitable for all people after stroke or other neurological incident. The TIDE group does not make any representations or warranties as to the effectiveness of the program contained on this website.

The TeleCIMT program should be prescribed strictly by a healthcare professional i.e. registered occupational therapist or physiotherapist with experience in stroke or neurological rehabilitation. The TeleCIMT program can be adapted to individual participant or service needs.

The TeleCIMT resources on this website do not provide or constitute individual medical advice. The TeleCIMT program is to be used strictly as a guide only and is not a substitute for the advice, or prescribed course of treatment, of qualified physiotherapists, occupational therapists or medical practitioners.

Should you have any questions or problems regarding the use of this TeleCIMT program please consult your relevant occupational therapist or physiotherapist.

You hereby assume full responsibility for ensuring the appropriateness of any use of this TeleCIMT program, and you acknowledge that neither TIDE group nor any of the developers of this TeleCIMT program accept any responsibility for decisions made by you based on the TeleCIMT resources set out on this website.

To the maximum extent allowed pursuant to any applicable law, all content on this website is provided as is and without warranties of any kind either expressed or implied. The TIDE group disclaim all warranties, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and accepts no responsibility for the use of these resources. The TIDE group does not warrant that the functions contained in the downloadable content will be uninterrupted or error-free or that defects will be corrected, or that the content itself will not change from time to time.

The TIDE group does not warrant that this website, the server or any sites to which this site may be linked are free of any viruses or other harmful components which may affect your mode (s) of accessing this site. You (and not the TIDE group) assume the entire cost of any and all servicing, repair, or correction of any portion of any computer equipment, network or other related devices you use to access this site.

The TIDE group does not warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the use of the information on this website (or linked websites) in terms of their claims, validity, accuracy, timeliness, completeness, reliability, or otherwise. The websites which may be linked to this website are not necessarily created, managed, maintained or monitored by the TIDE group. The TIDE group is not responsible for any of the content of those linked websites. The inclusion of any link to such websites does not imply approval of or endorsement by the TIDE group of the websites or the content thereof. The TIDE group is only providing these links as a convenience to you.

The information and descriptions contained herein are not intended to be complete descriptions of all terms, exclusions and conditions applicable to the products and services, but are provided only for general informational purposes. Under no circumstances shall the TIDE group or its sponsors, contractors, partners, affiliates or other related parties be liable for any special, indirect or consequential damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tortuous action, arising out of or in connection with the use of the information herein. The material contained herein is not intended to be a complete description of all terms, exclusions and conditions, but is provided solely for informational purposes.

Exclusion of Liability

Participation in any of the exercises on this program is at your own risk. By viewing this program or performing the exercises described in this program, you acknowledge and accept that, to the extent permitted by law, the TIDE group or the developers of this TeleCIMT program will not be under any liability to you whatsoever, whether in contract or tort (including, without limitation, negligence), breach of statute or any other legal or equitable obligation, in respect of any injury, loss or damage (including loss of profit or savings), howsoever caused, which may be suffered or incurred by the viewer or any other person.

Restrictions on use of materials

Except as otherwise expressly permitted in writing by the TIDE group, no content (written text, images or audiovisual, in whole or in part) from this website may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted or distributed in any way. You may download material displayed on this website for your use only, provided that you also retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained on the materials. You may not distribute to anyone, modify, transmit, reuse, repost, or use any content on this website for public or commercial purposes, including but not limited to text, images, audio, and video without written permission from the TIDE group. The TIDE group neither warrants nor represents that your use of materials displayed on this website or linked websites will not infringe the rights of third parties.

Intellectual Property

All trademarks, services marks, trade names, logos, and icons are proprietary to the TIDE group. Nothing appearing on the website should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any trademark displayed on this website without the written permission of the TIDE group. Your use for any purpose of the trademarks displayed on this website, or any other content on this website, except as provided herein, is strictly prohibited.

Images displayed on this website are either the property of, or used with permission by the TIDE group. The use of these images by you, or anyone else authorised by you, is prohibited unless specifically permitted in writing by the TIDE group. Any unauthorised use of images may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and communications regulations and statutes.