About

Following a 13 year career as a Royal Marines Commando where I specialised in physical training and rehabilitation, I undertook and gained a first class BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy at Sheffield Hallam University where I also undertook my PhD ‘Stroke patients’ utilisation of extrinsic feedback from computer-based technology in the home: a multiple case study realistic evaluation.’ I have published in a number of peer reviewed journals, book chapters, and NIHR publications. I have presented at and chaired national and international conferences as well as to academic and NHS trusts. I have also had the opportunity to lecture undergraduate and postgraduate Physiotherapists, Sport Therapists, university and NHS staff and medical students.

Teaching responsibilities

My teaching interests lie in research methods, telehealth and telecare, rehabilitation including therapeutic exercise and strategies to facilitate the self-management of long-term conditions. I am the year 3 lead for the BSc Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation and lead for the level 6 Spines module and the Advanced Soft Tissue and Critical Thinking module. I also supervise undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Professional interests

Current Projects

Stroke Upper Limb

• I am working with Prof Sue Mawson and Dr Ben Heller on a SCIMT concept exploring the measurement of UL movement in stroke and how this can be encouraged through motivational feedback.

Emego

• I am working with GSPK on the clinical application of the EMEGO EMG-BFB device for stroke. I have tested the device with 10 stroke survivors without UL function to test the feasibility of detecting UL muscle activity and how this associates with the MRC Oxford grading scale and their ARAT scores. Our aim is to evaluate the device with clinicians and create a platform for stroke survivors to use the Emego independently. 

Modified ARAT

• I am leading a project that aims to modify one of the most widely used stroke upper-limb outcome measures. The modification will involve adding a bi-lateral component that is often a difficulty despite achieving a maximum score on the ARAT.
• I have co-developed a new ARAT test equipment with Design Futures SHU. We now want to test the clinical usability of the ARAT Lite^TM in the NHS stroke pathway across the region.

ARAT Lite^TM

• I have co-developed a new ARAT test equipment with Design Futures SHU. We now want to test the clinical usability of the ARAT Lite^TM in the NHS stroke pathway across the region.

Virtual Reality for Paediatric Lower Limb Rehabilitation 

• This project aims to develop bespoke Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) play scenarios for in-patients in the immediate post-surgery period to encourage them to perform the required physiotherapy exercises.

ADHD

• I have gained funding to explore the measurement of hyperactivity in children and young people using Runscribe sensors. This research is underway with over 60 sets of data collected, analysis with Prof Muñoz-Organero (Spain). 

MSK/Neuro biofeedback

• I am working with GSPK on the EMEGO biofeedback switch. We are exploring how the equipment can be developed for other conditions such as stroke (than MND).

Safety Nets

• A multicenter study exploring the effectiveness of an intervention combining physical exercise with education for CYP on the waiting list for treatment.

Start up Projects:

Prehabilitation

• A study exploring the mechanisms and effectiveness of a pre-habilitation programme by John Jackson (Olympic Bronze medalist). 

Research interests

My special interests include:
• Implementing and evaluating innovative models of service delivery.
• Realist Evaluation, mixed-methods and qualitative methodologies.
• Rehabilitation

Membership of professional bodies

Regitered Physiotherpist (Health and Care Professions Council - HCPC). 

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy

PhD

FHEA

Recent conferences

Parker J: (2019) Keynote Speaker: The use of technology to facilitate post-stroke self-managed rehabilitation. North Trent ACPIN 27^th April 2019.

Parker J: (2019) The modification of the Action research Arm Test (ARAT) and the design and development of the ARAT Lite. North Trent ACPIN 27^th April 2019.

Powell, L., Parker, J., Mawson, S., Harpin, V. (2017) Utilising Lego® Serious Play® to engage children and young people with ADHD and their parents. Oral presentation at Design4Health conference, Melbourne, December 2017.

Mawson S, Parker J. A personalized self-management rehabilitation system for stroke survivors: a realist evaluation. World Congress for Physical Therapy (WCPT), Cape Town International Convention Centre, Tuesday 4th July 2017.

Parker J, Mawson SJ, Mountain GA (2014) Stroke patients’ utilisation of extrinsic feedback from computer-based technology in the home: a multiple case study realistic evaluation. The 1st International Conference On Realist Approaches To Evaluation And Synthesis: Success, Challenges And The Road Ahead. Monday 27th – Thursday 30th October 2014.

Experience in industry

I have over a decade of experience working with industry partners in the UK and across the world from the USA, Canada, Sweden, Spain and Portugal. I have built an international reputation for the clinical application and evaluation of technology. 

International experience

I have chaired and presented at international conferences across the world and have a number of global industry and academic partners.

Recent publications

Published:

Parker, J., Powell, L. and Mawson, S., (2020). Effectiveness of Upper Limb Wearable Technology for Improving Activity and Participation in Adult Stroke Survivors: Systematic Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(1), p.e15981.

Nunn, S., Kritsotakis, E., Harpin, V., & Parker, J. (2020). Social gradients in the receipt of medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and young people in Sheffield. BJPsych Open, 6(2), E14. doi:10.1192/bjo.2019.87. 

Munoz-Organero, M., Powell, L., Heller, B., Harpin, V., Parker, J. (2019) Using Recurrent Neural Networks to compare movement patterns in children with ADHD with normally developing children based on acceleration signals from wrists and ankles. Sensors, Jul 3;19(13). pii: E2935. doi: 10.3390/s19132935. 

Powell, L., Parker, J., Harpin, V., Mawson S. (2019) Guideline development for technological interventions for children and young people to self-manage attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Realist Evaluation. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(4):e12831. doi: 10.2196/12831. 

Church, G., Parker, J., Powell, L., Mawson, S. (2019) The effectiveness of group exercise for improving activity and participation in adult stroke survivors: a systematic review. Physiotherapy. Jan 19. pii: S0031-9406(19)30011-2. doi: 10.1016/j.physio.2019.01.005.

Munoz-Organero, M., Powell, L., Heller, B., Harpin, V., Parker, J. (2018) Automatic extraction and detection of characteristic movement patterns in children with ADHD based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and acceleration images. Sensors. Nov 14;18(11). pii: E3924. doi: 10.3390/s18113924. 

Powell, L., Parker, J., Harpin, V. (2018) What is the level of evidence for the use of currently available technologies in managing the difficulties associated with ADHD in children and young people?: A systematic review. Journal of European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 27: 1391. doi: 10.1007/s00787-017-1092-x. 

Powell, L., Parker, J., Harpin, V. (2017) ADHD: is there an app for that? A suitability assessment of apps for parents of children and young people with ADHD. Journal of mHealth and uHealth Oct; 5(10): e149. doi: https://mhealth.jmir.org/2017/10/e149/

Powell, L., Joddrell, P., Parker, J. (2017) Involving users in the evaluation of apps for specific health conditions. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics 242:646-653 01 Jan 2017.

Parker J and Mawson S. (2017) The Provision of Sources of Self-Efficacy through Technology Enhanced Post-Stroke Rehabilitation in the Home Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. 242:401-408.