Disability & PM&R
From stroke rehabilitation to equitherapy, neurological disability to continuing medical education — research that looks beyond clinical outcomes to the lived experience of disability and rehabilitation, from both patient and clinician perspectives.
Life After Stroke: A Couple's Experience of Stroke, Rehabilitation, & Cryoneurolysis
In collaboration with Dr Paul Winston, ARCRYO
This SEA case study explores a couple’s experience of cryoneurolysis following one partner’s stroke, asking what the experience means at the level of human existence. Rather than focusing only on clinical intervention, the study examines how suffering, hope, dependence, dignity, and quality of life are lived within the couple’s shared world. It is concerned with the paradoxes of rehabilitation: that treatment may relieve suffering without fully restoring life, that care can both support and limit freedom, and that medical progress does not necessarily resolve the existential rupture created by stroke.
The study pays particular attention to freedom within constraint and to how persons continue to choose, respond, and make meaning within bodily and institutional limitation. A Foucauldian lens helps illuminate the shaping force of hospital systems and medical power, while SEA makes it possible to ask what forms of agency remain. The analysis suggests that the ultimate aim of rehabilitation is not merely ongoing therapy, but the recovery of meaningful participation in life, relationship, and selfhood, as far as possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic spurred global engagement with continuing medical education. The Canadian Advances in Neuro-Orthopedics for Spasticity Consortium's free online platform — offering interdisciplinary expert lectures on spasticity — saw parallel growth. Analysing 1,733 responses from 41 post-session surveys using a convergent mixed-methods design, four themes emerged: event value and satisfaction; increased competence; inspiring collaboration; and considerations and recommendations. Quantitative findings were strong: 88% of participants indicated intent to apply their learning, and 84% stated the webinars would enhance their competence.
Beyond individual skill-building, the findings underscore the importance of interaction in online education and highlight a need for communication skills training to facilitate multidisciplinary teamwork. Notably, disparities emerged in how participants perceived the academic difficulty of the content — warranting further investigation into how clinicians select continuing medical education webinars. Together, these results affirm the value of accessible, interdisciplinary online platforms in advancing spasticity care globally.
Presented at WCNR 2022, DFM 2025, ISPRM 2025 & 2026
Mauritians living with neurological disability face limited medical care, accessibility issues, and cultural stigma that prevent community reintegration. Following a phenomenological epistemology, this qualitative study employed reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 18 neurorehabilitation patients and 22 family caregivers during COVID-19 lockdown. Six themes emerged: caregiver burnout; barriers to treatment; poor social support and the disability taboo; geographical barriers; financial burden; and isolation. Unexpectedly, lockdowns benefitted socially isolated patients — resulting in strengthened familial bonds, subjective gains in recovery, fewer experiences of stigma, and reduced fatigue. Because rehabilitation care was already so limited that patients had lost motivation to pursue it, medical care itself was not highly disrupted by lockdown; instead, medication shortages and rising prices posed the greater challenge.
The widespread lack of resources on financial, rehabilitation, and social levels prevents return to the community and drives high rates of caregiver burnout. We recommend patient-centric strategies at grassroots, community, and national levels to enhance accessibility, support caregivers, and reduce barriers to neurorehabilitation services.
Presented at CANOSC 2025, DFM 2025 & ISPRM 2026
Here we explore a grassroots case study of an equine-assisted rehabilitation program in advancing person-centred neurorehabilitation, with a focus on cognitive, emotional, and physical outcomes. Anchored in real-world case examples, clinical evidence, and frontline practice, the session brings together interdisciplinary perspectives to highlight how animal-assisted interventions can complement traditional rehabilitation approaches. We address the scientific basis and practical implementation of equine-assisted therapy, with reference to WHO core rehabilitation competencies and WRA Objective 2.
We discuss best practices from a practitioner-led approach that moves beyond purely academic frameworks, and understand how grassroots programmes advance WRA Objective 2 through competency-based training and locally driven capacity building. The presentation aims to inform, inspire, and equip professionals with insights into innovative, locally driven models of care that enhance access and promote meaningful recovery.
