Neurorehabilitation in Santiago: Professor Julie Bernhardt presents at Brain Recover conference



It was sunny in Santiago when over 300 neurorehabilitation experts converged on the city for Brain Recover, a two-day conference hosted at Clinica Alemana de Santiago. Coming from all clinical backgrounds, they were there to learn the current best evidence, challenge their practice, and discuss global perspectives of neurorehabilitation care and research.

The conference kicked off in Santiago on the 26th of August.



After a long flight from Melbourne, Professor Julie Bernhardt, head of the Stroke theme at the Florey, was first to present. She spoke on four key topics:

1.      What’s new and emerging in stroke and brain injury research and collaboration.
2.     Early rehabilitation challenges and the evidence sitting behind current practices across a range of domains.
3.     Early mobility trials including AVERT DOSE, Florey Stroke’s newest and last trial studying early mobility training.
4.     Examples of national and local efforts to use data to guide and improve practice.

‘In all of the talks I tried to share knowledge, encourage collaboration and engagement and provide some tips that I’ve found helpful along the way or that I admire in the work of others,’ Professor Bernhardt said after her return.

She also heard from both Chilean and international speakers about differences in stroke care. “If you can get into a rehabilitation centre, I believe that care in Chile is as evidence-informed as possible. It is all about the workforce and systems. At Clinica Alemana the multidisciplinary team was strong and well connected,” she said. “Australia has better access to services particularly in the public hospital system.’
                                                                                             
Bernhardt also noted the importance of allied health research. “Australia has benefited enormously from having an education system that supports allied health clinicians and nurses to do PhDs, they really are a driving force for research in this country,” she said. “In Chile, doing a PhD is very difficult – so that important workforce is not able to contribute in the same way we do here.”

This is not the only international collaboration on Professor Bernhardt’s calendar. From stroke conferences in Hawaii and Milan, to the Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable, Bernhardt has been working hard to advance the field of stroke recovery globally.

“I do think we can strengthen the global reach of our research by encouraging and supporting our colleagues in countries where services or research are less well developed to participate in research. We also need to continue to have idea exchanges. There are lots of good things going on around the world and it’s important that are not blinkered in our own thinking.”

Hear more from Prof Julie Bernhardt in our podcast, where she talks about mentoring and women in science, young stroke, and the Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable.

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