using an "Encore" lift with walking sling for gait

My hospital is going minimal lift and pushing the use of this lift for early gait training. I can not find any published material on the efficacy of this technique. Has anyone had any experience with this ??

I have used "encore" in a rehabilitation setting. Mainly CVA, orthopaedic and post surgical conditions. A great option in this "no lift" environment when the only other choice is tilt table with no mobility. Expensive - however has the best action and easy to set up once you are used to it.

Hi there...yep Encore lift is a good one for most gait assisted walking.

I've personally used it for stroke/MS etc at all levels with all ages. worked very well once you get used to it (and its not that hard)

Good luck!

Thanks My next question is does the lift interfere with a normal gait pattern ie postural reactions weight shift or learning to balance between the strong and weaker side

Was there a downside at all. Do you have any references for articles supporting this use of the lift?

I appreciate your time>

Highmode

Why wouldn't you use a LiteGait for such patients? How can you control/adjust the patient's posture with the encore?

[Physiobase]

I have been using the pneumax "pneu-weight" unweighting device for over 12 years now, both with a neurological and sporting population. I would agree that the harness type systems do impeed some of the normal gait in the stroke/head injured patient however the positive effects on moral, safety, general body systems as a result of standing, and the ability to remove the arms from as support base far outweighs any negative aspects.

There are many different systems out there and the first and perhaps most important factor is the actual harness rather than the lifting device itself. As physios we should see this as a tool that can be combined with a lot of other techniques that are designed to restore proximal stability. We should not simply stand the client in a sling device without first addressing sitting balance and and presence of righting reactions. Otherwise simply standing someone and assisting them to "walk" will perpetuate learned compensation. That can later lead to withdrawal of the harness work to fix those issues. Unfortunately this can have a negative effect on patient moral.

If you really want to see a company that have put a lot of work into gait retraining with a truely amazing design, and unfortunately price, take a look at www.hocoma.com/

Also here is a useful article titled: Physical Activity and Exercise Recommendations for Stroke Survivors

Thank you for the info and references I'm always open to new techniques but getting evidence for best practice is essential to good practice.

Appreciate it!!!!!!!!!!