Page 17 - UD Research Magazine Vol5-No1

Steven Stanhope, director of the BADER
Consortium, and his UD team are building a national network of researchers, physicians and health professionals to further strengthen evidence-based orthopedic rehabilitation for wounded warriors so that each patient can reach his or her optimal level of function. Their findings are also helping civilian patients.
Among the eight studies BADER
is funding are a virtual-reality training program to increase stability when walking; biofeedback strategies for improving walking and running; and identifying the optimal stiffness and height of a running prosthesis.
But BADER also is having an impact here in Delaware, the result of a new partnership with a local prosthetics com- pany to help civilian patients who want to optimize the fit and function of their prosthetic devices.
The BADER Clinic, operated in conjunction with the UD Physical Therapy Department and Independence Prosthetics- Orthotics, has seen a handful of patients
in its first weeks. The clinic operates with
a multidisciplinary approach that involves clinicians, researchers and patients working together to determine the best approach when it comes to prosthesis design and fit.
Already, it shows the potential for improving patient outcomes through
collaboration and innovation, said BADER Consortium Director Steven J. Stanhope. “We’re trying to rewrite how we look
at functional outcomes in prosthetics and orthotics by involving students, faculty, industry and other experts,” Stanhope said. “We want to take advanced technologies and see how they are best suited for which level of functioning. We want to be that bridge to see the highest level of function- ing from patients.”
Bridging advanced developments for exceptional rehabilitation
Stanhope’s bridge analogy is a good one to describe BADER, which stands for Bridging Advanced Developments for Exceptional Rehabilitation. It began in 2011 when BADER was awarded a five-year, $19.7 million grant from DOD to strengthen evidence-based orthopedic rehabilitation care for soldiers with mus- culoskeletal injuries to help them return to optimal function in their daily lives.
The award was made through DOD’s Office of Congressionally Directed Medi- cal Research Programs, and the idea was to bring together military treatment facilities, academic researchers and rehabilitation centers for the benefit of the nation’s wounded service members.
Over the past 13 years, more than 1,500 members of the U.S. Armed Forces have suffered a traumatic injury requiring a limb amputation as a result of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Only about
17 percent of soldiers with amputations return to active duty—an improvement from about 2 percent in the 1980s.
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