Increasing patient engagement in rehabilitation exercises using computer-based citizen science

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Citizen Science

Background:

• Patient motivation is crucial for effective rehabilitation programs.
• Web-based citizen science offers a novel approach to enhance engagement.
• Low-cost haptic feedback devices can facilitate interactive rehabilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effectiveness of citizen science activities in increasing participant engagement in rehabilitation exercises.
• To evaluate the utility of a low-cost haptic joystick for monitoring patient recovery.

Main Methods:

• Participants (patients and healthy subjects) navigated a virtual canal environment using a haptic joystick.
• Two conditions were tested: one with a citizen science image classification task, and one without.
• A survey assessed participant preference and willingness to repeat tasks.

Main Results:

• Participants showed a preference for the citizen science task and were more likely to repeat it.
• Performance data from the joystick revealed significant differences between patient and healthy subject trajectories.
• The haptic joystick provided quantifiable metrics for assessing patient recovery.

Conclusions:

• Integrating citizen science components can significantly enhance engagement in virtual rehabilitation.
• Low-cost haptic technology is a viable tool for objective assessment of rehabilitation progress.
• This approach holds promise for improving patient motivation and outcomes in physical therapy.