2023 Department of Pediatrics Academic Annual Report

Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine

PEDIATRIC FACULTY Dr. Drew Davis...............................................Director | Professor Dr. Kelli Chaviano...............................................Assistant Professor Dr. Byron Lai.........................................................Assistant Professor Dr. Erin Swanson-Kimani................................Associate Professor Dr. Cynthia Wozow.............................................Assistant Professor

FEATURED RESEARCH The UAB Division of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine seeks to generate new knowledge related to disabling conditions of children and adolescents. Through close collaboration with the UAB Research Collaborative on the Lakeshore Foundation campus, our division is working to develop wide-reaching interventions to improve the health and wellness of children with physical impairments through sports, fitness, recreation and lifestyle interventions. The division’s research efforts focus on improving neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, mental health and functional outcomes in patients with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury and other disabling conditions. Many utilize telemedicine and other technologic advances to meet study goals. Select studies are listed below. Adapted physical education through virtual reality in Pelham High School for children with disabilities (PI: Byron Lai). This project is testing a virtual reality exercise program that is inclusive for people with mobility disabilities at a local high school. The program utilizes the most advanced head-mounted displays that include both virtual and mixed reality gaming. The project is being implemented at the school by a youth with cerebral palsy and a special physical education case manager. This project was funded by an internal grant from the Forge AHEAD Center to fund a project to improve cardiometabolic health among a population with a health disparity. Findings from this project could be implemented at any high school and aim to build a collaborative network in the community that can serve as a model for helping children across the nation. Online group-based virtual reality program to foster relationships among peers and improve depression and anxiety among adolescents with cerebral palsy (PI: Byron Lai): This project tested the feasibility of a group play gaming intervention to improve mental health and social isolation among 12 children with disabilities. Mental health and social isolation have worsened significantly among children with disabilities since the outbreak of COVID-19. This study equipped children with virtual reality headsets to facilitate meeting in the metaverse to socialize and play group recreation games online with other children with disabilities. The sessions were led by two coaches who supervised the children, encouraged friendship building and taught the children about mindfulness. This study found that participants had built relationships with their peers and that feelings of depression were improved after completing the program. Innovative pilot project to discover a telehealth assessment protocol for assessing physical fitness and function in the home among youth with disabilities (PI: Byron Lai): This study tested the validity and reliability of performing home assessments of physical function among youth with disabilities. Low enrollment is the biggest factor preventing large clinical trials of therapeutic exercise among youth with disabilities. Transportation and the low density of youth with disabilities near a single hospital or site are critical barriers toward participation. The identification of valid and reliable home-based assessments could eliminate the need for participants to come on-site for data collection procedures. A total of 18 youth (nine with and nine without disabilities) completed four assessments of physical function through Zoom and then the same four assessments in person. The findings from this study supported that the novel home-assessment protocols had good-to-excellent agreement with the gold standard in-person assessments, indicating that they could be used for remote studies. The findings from this study will assist the division’s large clinical trials planned for the next year.

2023 Academic Annual Report

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