Research conversation: Innovations in treating hemiplegic shoulder pain

About the event

Hemiplegic shoulder pain is pain in and around the shoulder that develops as a direct result of neurological disease. It is associated with poor recovery of the affected arm, reduced quality of life, and increased risk of depression. Despite its impact, there are currently limited guidelines on how best to manage it.

As part of her PhD at the University of the West of England (UWE), Avgi Christodoulou is co-creating a virtual reality treatment with people with stroke and clinicians, to help support the management of hemiplegic shoulder pain in people with stroke.

Avgi’s presentation, which she will be delivering with her patient partner, will include a short summary of how they designed the virtual reality treatment. They will then present the completed virtual reality game, showing what it looks like and how it works, and sharing their findings from early user testing.

They will also discuss how feedback from people with lived experience and clinicians will guide future refinements to make the game more engaging and relevant to real-world needs within rehabilitation.

The purpose of this session is to share and disseminate the findings from the project and gather input from the public on how they can take this work forward.

They would particularly value feedback on:

• Their approach to patient and public involvement, how they have engaged with people with stroke and clinicians so far, and how they might improve this in future phases
• Whether their early user testing findings have been interpreted in a way that makes sense to people with lived experience
• How to best use this feedback to refine CrAB CatchER so it remains motivating, accessible, and meaningful
• How to communicate and disseminate their findings more effectively, to ensure both the public and professionals remain informed and involved as the project progresses
• Ideas for future phases and what their priorities should focus on

Our speakers

Avgi Christodoulou

Avgi holds a BSc in Physiotherapy and brings over 13 years of experience across NHS and private rehabilitation settings, in specialist and clinical lead roles. Her interest in research and innovation grew during her MSc in Stroke Medicine at UCL, where she collaborated with bioengineers on robotic rehabilitation solutions, guiding her towards specialising in neurological physiotherapy.

In 2023, she was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship to undertake a PhD at the UWE, where she is developing technology to manage hemiplegic shoulder pain. Her long-standing experience in neurological and musculoskeletal practice also informs an initiative supporting athletes with neurological disease returning to high-level sport.

Avgi is committed to improving access, participation and outcomes for people with disabilities.

Claire Angell

Claire is a stroke survivor of eleven years who began volunteering with the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) stroke reconfiguration programme board in 2016 when she heard about the inequalities of care that existed across the stroke care pathway.

Claire was involved in co-designing the reconfigured BNSSG stroke care pathway that went live between 2022-2023 and now sits on the BNSSG Stroke Clinical Oversight Group as the Lived Experience Lead. Claire is also Co-Director for the Bristol Health Partners Stroke Health Integration Team (HIT) and chairs the Stroke HIT Lived Experience Group.

She has been involved in a number of research projects as a Patient Partner and uses her lived experience to assist and inform various health organisations and charities in projects that aim to improve care and rehabilitation for other stroke survivors and their families.

What is a research conversation?

Research Conversations are hosted by People in Health West of England and are informal sessions which are designed to give researchers and public contributors a chance to interact. Public contributors are encouraged to ask questions, learn about, and get involved in projects in their area.