Treatment

Motor Relearning

The Motor Relearning Programme (MRP) is a treatment approach that was developed by the Australian physiotherapists Janet Carr and Roberta Shepherd. It is a task-oriented approach to improving control of movement, focusing on the relearning of daily activities. It is strongly based on theories in kinesiology.

The programme is composed of guidelines for evaluating how well a patient performs and improves on 7 specific daily movement behaviours, namely:

  • Upper limb function,
  • Oro-facial function,
  • Sitting up from lying,
  • Sitting,
  • Standing up and sitting down,
  • Standing and Walking

In Motor Relearning, the patient must always be actively participating in the activity (without resistance) and given some opportunity to make mistakes.

Motor Relearning focuses on task-oriented strategies. Task-oriented therapy is therefore an important element of learning. It makes intuitive sense that the best way to relearn a given task is to train specifically for that task. MRP theory describes the ways in which motor patterns can be acquired and modified through learning.

At Rita Henn and Partners, our therapists make use of a combination of therapeutic approaches in our rehabilitation programme which includes motor relearning.