Nova Scotia Health clinicians on the Acquired Brain Injury Outreach Team, from left-right: Lynn Renton, Andy Callaghan, and Rhonda Booth (now retired).
By: Niecole Killawee
After a brain injury, everyday tasks like buttoning a shirt, pouring a glass of water, or even picking up a guitar can be overwhelming.
At the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation and Arthritis Centre, clinicians see how much an acquired brain injury (ABI) not only affects daily activity, but also a person’s sense of identity. When someone loses the ability to do something they love, it can feel like they're losing a part of themselves.
“It’s a lot of change in a short period of time, and a lot of loss,” says Lynn Renton, an occupational therapist and provincial network coordinator with Acquired Brain Injury Services.
Renton, along with recreation therapy associate Andy Callaghan and now-retired recreation therapist Rhonda Booth, describe their work on the ABI Outreach Team as helping clients regain confidence and find joy in meaningful experiences that support their recovery. Rehabilitation, they say, is about promoting independent success.
Since mental well-being is linked to recovery, they guide clients to re-engage in activities they love without worrying about perfection, adapting as needed.
“If a client finds success with a certain adaptation, they feel good. Others cheer them on, and then they’re more motivated to explore the next step,” says Callaghan.
In 2018, Callaghan, Renton and Booth worked with four clients who wanted to play guitar again—a complex activity requiring both fine and gross motor control, coordination, focus, and confidence.
They looked for assistive devices but found nothing that could help with one person's strumming limitations.
“We were problem solving with the client, looking for ways to accommodate the limitation but still allow for musicality,” says Callaghan.
Helping clients adapt sometimes means getting creative and inventing new tools. Over the years, the care team designed several assistive devices for musicians, building upon each iteration and partnering with groups like Tetra Society. In this case, Tetra Society built a prototype with wooden dowels and blocks. It was bulky, but it worked.
Three months later, after a few group sessions and practice at home, all four clients were jamming together in harmony.
“Something like this offers hope—hope that a person’s injury hasn’t taken everything away from them, and they can return to a favourite hobby because there’s another way to do it,” says Booth.
Earlier this year, another client inspired Callaghan to improve the strumming device for more comfort, precision, and flexibility. He sketched a design and took advantage of a 3D-printing test-and-try program the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub launched with PolyUnity and the CAN Health Network.
Working with PolyUnity designer Wylie Butler, they developed StrumAssist—a compact, lightweight device that’s adjustable to suit different motor abilities and guitars.
It has two key components: a ball with a built-in guitar pick for people with limited grip, and a dowel that works as the strumming aid or an armrest to avoid unintended string muting.
With StrumAssist’s help, Callaghan’s latest guitar-loving client is playing independently again.
“It worked as a bridge to show the client what was possible,” says Callaghan. “What I like about PolyUnity is that I could come up with a customizable solution that met someone's needs in that moment and gave them the feeling of success.”
The test-and-try program allowed clinicians and staff from across Nova Scotia Health to easily design products that would improve efficiencies and patient care. They submitted ideas through PolyUnity’s digital platform, i3D.Health, then PolyUnity handled the regulatory pathway and patent reviews before collaborating to prototype and refine the desired product. Final designs were printed at a regional manufacturing facility and distributed to sites across the province, often within weeks.
“We’ve produced thousands of products that came from frontline healthcare workers. These teams are full of innovative ideas, but also stretched thin,” says Daniel McCarthy, PolyUnity’s client success representative. “Empowering them with a 3D-printing solution helps make their ideas a reality.”
Over the six-month test-and-try program, clinicians and staff submitted 36 ideas, placed 37 orders, and received 640 products at 10 facilities. Most of the tools addressed clinical workflow challenges, but StrumAssist also showed how responsive manufacturing can be adapted to meet unique needs in care delivery.
For the ABI Outreach Team, StrumAssist is a reminder that creative thinking and simple, well-designed interventions can meaningfully shape a person’s recovery. For people with an ABI, it’s a way to find the courage and motivation to start again after a life-changing injury.
