Evolv proudly participated as an exhibitor at the 18th UK Stroke Forum (UKSF), held in Birmingham, England, from December 4th to 6th. Recognized as the largest multidisciplinary conference in the UK for stroke care health professionals, the UK Stroke Forum, which is organized by the the Stroke Association, is also a prominent international event in the field.
Despite challenges such as train strikes and inclement weather leading up to the event, this year’s Forum drew an impressive record of 1800 attendees. UKSF 2023 provided Evolv with a valuable opportunity to showcase the EvolvRehab virtual rehabilitation software and hardware platform to a diverse audience. Visitors to our stand had the chance to explore our multitherapy modules actively utilized in the treatment of stroke survivors globally, including at the esteemed Queen Square Upper Limb Neurorehabilitation Programme in London.
At this year’s Stroke Forum, we unveiled an exclusive preview of the latest version of EvolvRehab with a new rehabilitation module, currently undergoing trials for telerehabilitation services in various NHS England hospitals as part of our SBRI Healthcare project. This innovative module, which is called ‘MoveWell,’ focuses on helping stroke patients enhance the quality of movement in their affected upper limb through personalized, repetitive task-based virtual exergames. These exercises aim to minimize common compensatory movements often observed post-stroke.
MoveWell received positive feedback from therapists who recognized its potential to help stroke survivors reduce the impairment of their affected arms through its unique combination of exergaming and kinematic analysis.
Many community-based therapists acknowledged how EvolvRehab could help them meet the new guidelines for stroke rehabilitation from NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), which recommends 3 hours of daily rehabilitation at least five days of the week covering a range of multidisciplinary therapy to be provided in the homes of stroke survivors. Along with the new recommendations on the intensity of post-stroke rehabilitation, the updated NICE guideline also makes new proposals for improving stroke care in several other areas including the use of telerehabilitation.
The rollout of EvolvRehab-MoveWell across different NHS community stroke teams through our SBRI Healthcare feasibility trial, funded by the NHS & Accelerated Access Collaborative and supported by the Stroke Association, garnered significant interest from therapists as well. As a result, we look forward to having numerous NHS sites test our groundbreaking technology in 2024.
We extend our congratulations to the Stroke Association for once again organizing an exceptional Stroke Forum, featuring engaging talks, presentations, and posters. We look forward to next year’s edition and the possibility to share how we are working to improve stroke care with healthcare professionals and researchers from around the UK and worldwide.
