Q: Which are the most popular products sold on your site? Please give a brief explanation why.
A: StimOne, SaeboStim Pro and SaeboGlove . There is not a simple answer why these are most popular but some factors may be – ease of use, dynamic tools for rehab i.e. assist working on regaining movement, and they are supported by evidence base in rehab ( see new National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke)
Q: Many of your products focus on physical stimulation, do you see a gap to improve mental strength such as memory?
A: Not within the customer base that we target, no.
Q: My research for stroke patients is based on interacting with everyday objects, which of your items are everyday objects which have been transformed especially for stroke survivors, and which objects can you see being transformed in the future?
A: A lot of our customers need to gain enough movement to be able to interact with everyday object first. This is why our products are focused on regaining activity. The Saeboglove is the product closest to enable stroke survivors to interact with the environment.
Q: Which of the products are portable and can be used in versatile spaces (e.g. travelling on public transport, backpacks etc)?
A: SaeboStep, SaeboGlove, SaeboStim one and SaeboStim pro . These are mainly tools that would be attached to the person rather than carrying them.
Q: Which of your products could turn into effective gaming strategies focussing on the mind?
A: None
Q: Having personal experience and interaction with a stroke survivor, I realised that they haven’t used certain items to support them such as pens made specifically for stroke survivors, why do you think this would be the case for their unpopularity?
A: I wouldn’t say this is unpopular, it is often due to lack of knowledge and lack of resources to access these.
Q: What motivates stroke survivors the most during training? E.g. tools, objects, items etc.
A: This is a question for stroke survivors – everyone is motivated slightly different depending on their goals and stage in their rehab journey
Q: A key strategy for improvement is engaging with textures for stroke survivors, which materials and textures would you recommend that assist this process that are most beneficial for sensory development?
A: This is only key if they have sensory impairment which not every stroke survivor has. For those that have a sensory impairment variety is key rather than any one texture.
Analysis:
This interview gave me good industry insights and at the same time, connection to a medical view. Nevertheless, it confirmed for me how even the popular tools are very expensive and therefore do not seem accessible. The mentioned tools in the first question are all around the 130$-330$ price range.
On top of that, the information provided does not connect tools that both help to build up on physical, as well as mental strength to fill the existing gap.
It was also interesting to find out why tools like pens made for stroke survivors are not used by many, since I realized this from my experience and observation in the past. I found out that this was due to people not being aware what is actually out there and possible.
The stress was also on how diverse textures are especially important and not just one particular texture, for patients who struggle with that, therefore my thoughts of including as many as possible was on the right track.
Although the objects mentioned are suggested to be portable, this does not still seem to be the case, unlike the training ball that can be taken into spaces and is easily interactive.
->Proof/screenshots of this can be found on this blog