The Interdisciplinary Comprehensive Arm Rehabilitation Evaluation (I-CARE)
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awarded $12.4 million to USC for a five-year study of a physical therapy program for stroke patients who have lost movement in their upper limbs.
The primary objective of I-CARE is to improve outpatient therapy for arm paresis after stroke. Investigators will conduct a Phase III, single blind, multi-center, randomized control trial to investigate the effectiveness of ASAP (Accelerated Skill Acquisition Program), a focused, intense, evidence-based, upper extremity rehabilitation program. ASAP combines aspects of constraint-induced therapy, skill-based/impairment-mitigating task-specific training with embedded motivational enhancements and includes 30 hours of one-on-one therapy initiated during the early post-acute outpatient interval (1-3 months) after stroke.