North America and Caribbean region: Colombia

Every year about 45,000 Colombians experience a stroke. Stroke, along with other cerebrovascular diseases, is the country’s second leading cause of death and the main cause of disability. This is attributed to multiple factors such as lifestyles, ethnic factors, access to healthcare, and lack of resources. It is estimated that about 38% of citizens do not recognize the symptoms of a stroke, and only 40% of cases go to an emergency hotline for prompt attention. Due to this high disease burden, about 2.6% of the population have disabilities, for whom few health policies provide quality access to rehabilitation therapies at the rural and urban levels. The conjunction of sociopolitical and economic conditions for the distribution of resources is insufficient to provide effective treatments within the health system. Functional rehabilitation services in specialized centers are the standard care for people with disabilities. Few rehabilitation centers have robotic therapies that provide intensive, repetitive, and task-specific treatment. However, access to those services is less than 1% for patients with motor problems. Through multidisciplinary research of engineers and clinicians, Colombians have sought to develop strategies and technological solutions for treating patients poststroke. Some of the developments involve lower-limb and upper-limb exoskeletons and active orthoses. Furthermore, other studies have focused on technologies such as Lokomat, social robotics, and the inclusion of neurofeedback techniques such as brain–computer interface, virtual reality, and serious games. Each of these strategies has been evolving to support rehabilitation processes. In the future, these technological developments are expected to make rehabilitation more accessible to reduce the disease’s prevalence in the country gradually.