BCCHR Researchers Find a Researcher

Liisa Holsti

MA, PhD

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

The Developmental Care Program centers on finding ways to accurately assess and effectively treat stress and pain responses in preterm infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We are conducting a comprehensive program of research that includes studies which are descriptive, mechanistic and interventionist; outcome measures ranging from cellular to behavioural levels; and mothers, fathers and infants born from the earliest gestational ages to term.

Academic Affiliations

Professor, , Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Research Theme: Healthy Starts
Research Group(s): Global Health and Innovations; Neurodevelopmental and Neurological Disorders; Origins of Child Health and Disease

Contact Information

Location

950 West 28th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V5Z 4H4

liisa.holsti@ubc.ca

Pilot Testing a Robot for Reducing Pain in Hospitalized Preterm Infants

OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research

Nicholas Williams and Karon MacLean and Ling Guan and Jean Paul Collet and Liisa Holsti

DOI: 10.1177/1539449218825436

04 / 2019

Evaluating change in virtual reality adoption for brain injury rehabilitation following knowledge translation

Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology

Glegg, S.M.N. and Holsti, L. and Stanton, S. and Hanna, S. and Velikonja, D. and Ansley, B. and Sartor, D. and Brum, C.

DOI: 10.3109/17483107.2015.1111944

Defining procedural distress in the NICU and what can be done about It

Neonatal Network

Schiavenato, M. and Holsti, L.

DOI: 10.1891/0730-0832.36.1.12

A Systematic Review of the Predictive Validity of Neurobehavioral Assessments During the Preterm Period

Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics

Craciunoiu, O. and Holsti, L.

DOI: 10.1080/01942638.2016.1185501

Beyond Acute Pain: Understanding Chronic Pain in Infancy

Children

DOI: 10.3390/children3040026

12 / 2016

Salivary Cortisol Based Early ACTH Test for Identifying Adrenal Insufficiency in Low Birth Weight Infants.

Hochwald O and Holsti L and Osiovich H

PubMed: 27299340

06 / 2016

A Systematic Review of the Predictive Validity of Neurobehavioral Assessments During the Preterm Period.

Craciunoiu O and Holsti L

PubMed: 27314272

06 / 2016

Comment on the Paper by van den Bosch et al. Entitled 'Prematurity, Opioid Exposure and Neonatal Pain: Do They Affect the Developing Brain': The Impact of Subtle Messaging.

Holsti L and Zwicker JG and Grunau RE

DOI: 10.1159/000442081 PubMed: 26670662

Oral glucose during targeted neonatal echocardiography: is it useful?

Lavoie PM and Stritzke A and Ting J and Jabr M and Jain A and Kwan E and Chakkarapani E and Brooks P and Brant R and McNamara PJ and Holsti L

DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2015-308191 PubMed: 26054971

07 / 2015

The development of the Pediatric Motivation Scale for rehabilitation.

Tatla SK and Jarus T and Virji-Babul N and Holsti L

DOI: 10.1177/0008417414556884 PubMed: 26281433

04 / 2015

Neonatal pain and developmental outcomes in children born preterm: a systematic review.

Valeri BO and Holsti L and Linhares MB

DOI: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000114 PubMed: 24866853

04 / 2015

Perceptions of Technology and Its Use for Therapeutic Application for Individuals With Hemiparesis: Findings From Adult and Pediatric Focus Groups

JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies

Melanie Y Lam and Sandy K Tatla and Keith R Lohse and Navid Shirzad and Alison M Hoens and Kimberly J Miller and Liisa Holsti and Naznin Virji-Babul and HF Machiel Van der Loos

DOI: 10.2196/rehab.3484

02 / 2015

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Use of Oral Glucose with or without Gentle Facilitated Tucking of Infants during Neonatal Echocardiography.

Lavoie PM and Stritzke A and Ting J and Jabr M and Jain A and Kwan E and Chakkarapani E and Brooks P and Brant R and McNamara PJ and Holsti L

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141015 PubMed: 26496361

The fathers'support scale: Neonatal intensive care unit (FSS: NICU): Development and initial content validation

Journal of Neonatal Nursing

Mahon, P. and Albersheim, S. and Holsti, L.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jnn.2014.09.007

Therapists' perceptions of social media and video game technologies in upper limb rehabilitation.

Tatla SK and Shirzad N and Lohse KR and Virji-Babul N and Hoens AM and Holsti L and Li LC and Miller KJ and Lam MY and Van der Loos HF

DOI: 10.2196/games.3401 PubMed: 25759148

Using colors to assess pain in toddlers: validation of "the rainbow pain scale"-a proof-of-principle study.

Mahon P and Holsti L and Siden H and Strahlendorf C and Turnham L and Giaschi D

DOI: 10.1177/1043454214555197 PubMed: 25416519

The GestureTek virtual reality system in rehabilitation: a scoping review.

Glegg SM and Tatla SK and Holsti L

DOI: 10.3109/17483107.2013.799236 PubMed: 23713408

03 / 2014

The effects of motivating interventions on rehabilitation outcomes in children and youth with acquired brain injuries: a systematic review.

Tatla SK and Sauve K and Jarus T and Virji-Babul N and Holsti L

DOI: 10.3109/02699052.2014.890747 PubMed: 24661000

Using virtual reality in clinical practice: A multi-site exploratory study.

Glegg SM and Holsti L and Stanton S and Hanna S and Velikonja D and Ansley B and Sartor D and Brum C

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-141152 PubMed: 25238866

Evidence for outcomes of motivational rehabilitation interventions for children and adolescents with cerebral palsy: an American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine systematic review.

Tatla SK and Sauve K and Virji-Babul N and Holsti L and Butler C and Van Der Loos HF

DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.12147 PubMed: 23550896

07 / 2013

Factors influencing therapists' adoption of virtual reality for brain injury rehabilitation.

Glegg SM and Holsti L and Velikonja D and Ansley B and Brum C and Sartor D

DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2013.1506 PubMed: 23713844

05 / 2013

Pain in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

HajGhanbari B and Holsti L and Road JD and Darlene Reid W

DOI: 10.1016/j.rmed.2012.03.004 PubMed: 22531146

07 / 2012

The use of an early ACTH test to identify hypoadrenalism-related hypotension in low birth weight infants.

Hochwald O and Holsti L and Osiovich H

DOI: 10.1038/jp.2012.16 PubMed: 22402482

06 / 2012

Terms used to describe pediatric videofluoroscopic feeding studies: a Delphi survey.

St Pierre AE and Reelie BA and Dolan AR and Stokes RH and Duivestein JA and Holsti L

PubMed: 22822693

06 / 2012

Occupational therapists play an important role in managing pain in infants in neonatal intensive care units | Les ergothrapeutes jouent un rle dterminant dans la gestion de la douleur chez les bbs dans les units de soins intensifs en nonatalogie

Occupational Therapy Now

Holsti, L.

Does breastfeeding reduce acute procedural pain in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit? A randomized clinical trial.

Holsti L and Oberlander TF and Brant R

DOI: 10.1016/j.pain.2011.07.022 PubMed: 22014760

11 / 2011

Assessing pain in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit: moving to a 'brain-oriented' approach.

Holsti L and Grunau RE and Shany E

DOI: 10.2217/pmt.10.19 PubMed: 21874145

03 / 2011

Measures of knowledge and skills for evidence-based practice: a systematic review.

Glegg SM and Holsti L

DOI: 10.2182/cjot.2010.77.4.4 PubMed: 21090063

10 / 2010

Content validation of the infant malnutrition and feeding checklist for congenital heart disease: a tool to identify risk of malnutrition and feeding difficulties in infants with congenital heart disease.

St Pierre A and Khattra P and Johnson M and Cender L and Manzano S and Holsti L

DOI: 10.1016/j.pedn.2009.04.009 PubMed: 20816559

10 / 2010

Considerations for using sucrose to reduce procedural pain in preterm infants.

Holsti L and Grunau RE

DOI: 10.1542/peds.2009-2445 PubMed: 20403938

05 / 2010

Paediatric occupational therapy: addressing parental stress with the sense of coherence.

Stokes RH and Holsti L

DOI: 10.2182/cjot.2010.77.1.5 PubMed: 20302187

02 / 2010

A preventive care program for very preterm infants improves infant behavioural outcomes and decreases anxiety and depression in caregivers.

Holsti L

DOI: 10.1016/S1836-9553(10)70012-6 PubMed: 21213943

Obsessional slowness: a case study.

Lam W and Wong KW and Fulks MA and Holsti L

DOI: 10.1177/000841740807500413 PubMed: 18975671

10 / 2008

Long-term outcome after neonatal intraparenchymal echodensities with porencephaly.

Sherlock RL and Synnes AR and Grunau RE and Holsti L and Hubber-Richard P and Johannesen D and Whitfield MF

DOI: 10.1136/adc.2006.110726 PubMed: 17704104

03 / 2008

Fathers' experiences in the neonatal intensive care unit: a search for control.

Arockiasamy V and Holsti L and Albersheim S

DOI: 10.1542/peds.2007-1005 PubMed: 18182470

02 / 2008

Is it painful or not? Discriminant validity of the Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain (BIIP) scale.

Holsti L and Grunau RE and Oberlander TF and Osiovich H

DOI: 10.1097/AJP.0b013e318158c5e5 PubMed: 18180641

01 / 2008

Initial validation of the Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain (BIIP).

Holsti L and Grunau RE

DOI: 10.1016/j.pain.2007.01.033 PubMed: 17382473

12 / 2007

Extremity movements help occupational therapists identify stress responses in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit: a systematic review.

Holsti L and Grunau RE

DOI: 10.1177/000841740707400306 PubMed: 17616017

06 / 2007

Relationships between adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol are altered during clustered nursing care in preterm infants born at extremely low gestational age.

Holsti L and Weinberg J and Whitfield MF and Grunau RE

DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2006.08.005 PubMed: 16979857

05 / 2007

Long-term consequences of pain in human neonates.

Grunau RE and Holsti L and Peters JW

DOI: 10.1016/j.siny.2006.02.007 PubMed: 16632415

08 / 2006

Biobehavioural reactivity to pain in preterm infants: a marker of neuromotor development.

Grunau RE and Whitfield MF and Fay T and Holsti L and Oberlander T and Rogers ML

DOI: 10.1017/S0012162206001010 PubMed: 16700939

06 / 2006

Behavioral responses to pain are heightened after clustered care in preterm infants born between 30 and 32 weeks gestational age.

Holsti L and Grunau RE and Whifield MF and Oberlander TF and Lindh V

DOI: 10.1097/01.ajp.0000210921.10912.47 PubMed: 17057556

Prior pain induces heightened motor responses during clustered care in preterm infants in the NICU.

Holsti L and Grunau RE and Oberlander TF and Whitfield MF

DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2004.08.002 PubMed: 15814212

03 / 2005

Neonatal procedural pain exposure predicts lower cortisol and behavioral reactivity in preterm infants in the NICU.

Grunau RE and Holsti L and Haley DW and Oberlander T and Weinberg J and Solimano A and Whitfield MF and Fitzgerald C and Yu W

DOI: 10.1016/j.pain.2004.10.020 PubMed: 15661436

02 / 2005

Specific Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program movements are associated with acute pain in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Holsti L and Grunau RE and Oberlander TF and Whitfield MF

DOI: 10.1542/peds.114.1.65 PubMed: 15231909

07 / 2004

Does prone or supine position influence pain responses in preterm infants at 32 weeks gestational age?

Grunau RE and Linhares MB and Holsti L and Oberlander TF and Whitfield MF

DOI: 10.1097/00002508-200403000-00003 PubMed: 14770046

Are there developmentally distinct motor indicators of pain in preterm infants?

Morison SJ and Holsti L and Grunau RE and Whitfield MF and Oberlander TF and Chan HW and Williams L

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-3782(03)00044-6 PubMed: 12782425

06 / 2003

Developmental coordination disorder in extremely low birth weight children at nine years.

Holsti L and Grunau RV and Whitfield MF

DOI: 10.1097/00004703-200202000-00002 PubMed: 11889346

02 / 2002

Are twitches, startles, and body movements pain indicators in extremely low birth weight infants?

Grunau RE and Holsti L and Whitfield MF and Ling E

DOI: 10.1097/00002508-200003000-00007 PubMed: 10741817

03 / 2000

Upper extremity performance and self-care skill changes in children with spastic cerebral palsy following selective posterior rhizotomy.

Loewen P and Steinbok P and Holsti L and MacKay M

DOI: 10.1159/000028720 PubMed: 9876248

10 / 1998

Bedside application of the Neonatal Facial Coding System in pain assessment of premature neonates.

Grunau RE and Oberlander T and Holsti L and Whitfield MF

DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3959(98)00046-3 PubMed: 9718246

06 / 1998

Extremely premature (< or = 800 g) schoolchildren: multiple areas of hidden disability.

Whitfield MF and Grunau RV and Holsti L

DOI: 10.1136/fn.77.2.F85 PubMed: 9377151

09 / 1997

Honours & Awards

Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program Career Award - 2005-2009

Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Neonatal Health and Development - 2010-2020

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Liisa Holsti

MA, PhD

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

Academic Affiliations

Contact Information

Location

Publications

Collapse

Expand

Pilot Testing a Robot for Reducing Pain in Hospitalized Preterm Infants

Evaluating change in virtual reality adoption for brain injury rehabilitation following knowledge translation

Defining procedural distress in the NICU and what can be done about It

A Systematic Review of the Predictive Validity of Neurobehavioral Assessments During the Preterm Period

Beyond Acute Pain: Understanding Chronic Pain in Infancy

Salivary Cortisol Based Early ACTH Test for Identifying Adrenal Insufficiency in Low Birth Weight Infants.

A Systematic Review of the Predictive Validity of Neurobehavioral Assessments During the Preterm Period.

Comment on the Paper by van den Bosch et al. Entitled 'Prematurity, Opioid Exposure and Neonatal Pain: Do They Affect the Developing Brain': The Impact of Subtle Messaging.

Oral glucose during targeted neonatal echocardiography: is it useful?

The development of the Pediatric Motivation Scale for rehabilitation.

Neonatal pain and developmental outcomes in children born preterm: a systematic review.

Perceptions of Technology and Its Use for Therapeutic Application for Individuals With Hemiparesis: Findings From Adult and Pediatric Focus Groups

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Use of Oral Glucose with or without Gentle Facilitated Tucking of Infants during Neonatal Echocardiography.

The fathers'support scale: Neonatal intensive care unit (FSS: NICU): Development and initial content validation

Therapists' perceptions of social media and video game technologies in upper limb rehabilitation.

Using colors to assess pain in toddlers: validation of "the rainbow pain scale"-a proof-of-principle study.

The GestureTek virtual reality system in rehabilitation: a scoping review.

The effects of motivating interventions on rehabilitation outcomes in children and youth with acquired brain injuries: a systematic review.

Using virtual reality in clinical practice: A multi-site exploratory study.

Evidence for outcomes of motivational rehabilitation interventions for children and adolescents with cerebral palsy: an American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine systematic review.

Factors influencing therapists' adoption of virtual reality for brain injury rehabilitation.

Pain in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The use of an early ACTH test to identify hypoadrenalism-related hypotension in low birth weight infants.

Terms used to describe pediatric videofluoroscopic feeding studies: a Delphi survey.

Occupational therapists play an important role in managing pain in infants in neonatal intensive care units | Les ergothrapeutes jouent un rle dterminant dans la gestion de la douleur chez les bbs dans les units de soins intensifs en nonatalogie

Does breastfeeding reduce acute procedural pain in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit? A randomized clinical trial.

Assessing pain in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit: moving to a 'brain-oriented' approach.

Measures of knowledge and skills for evidence-based practice: a systematic review.

Content validation of the infant malnutrition and feeding checklist for congenital heart disease: a tool to identify risk of malnutrition and feeding difficulties in infants with congenital heart disease.

Considerations for using sucrose to reduce procedural pain in preterm infants.

Paediatric occupational therapy: addressing parental stress with the sense of coherence.

A preventive care program for very preterm infants improves infant behavioural outcomes and decreases anxiety and depression in caregivers.

Obsessional slowness: a case study.

Long-term outcome after neonatal intraparenchymal echodensities with porencephaly.

Fathers' experiences in the neonatal intensive care unit: a search for control.

Is it painful or not? Discriminant validity of the Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain (BIIP) scale.

Initial validation of the Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain (BIIP).

Extremity movements help occupational therapists identify stress responses in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit: a systematic review.

Relationships between adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol are altered during clustered nursing care in preterm infants born at extremely low gestational age.

Long-term consequences of pain in human neonates.

Biobehavioural reactivity to pain in preterm infants: a marker of neuromotor development.

Behavioral responses to pain are heightened after clustered care in preterm infants born between 30 and 32 weeks gestational age.

Prior pain induces heightened motor responses during clustered care in preterm infants in the NICU.

Neonatal procedural pain exposure predicts lower cortisol and behavioral reactivity in preterm infants in the NICU.

Specific Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program movements are associated with acute pain in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Does prone or supine position influence pain responses in preterm infants at 32 weeks gestational age?

Are there developmentally distinct motor indicators of pain in preterm infants?

Developmental coordination disorder in extremely low birth weight children at nine years.

Are twitches, startles, and body movements pain indicators in extremely low birth weight infants?

Upper extremity performance and self-care skill changes in children with spastic cerebral palsy following selective posterior rhizotomy.

Bedside application of the Neonatal Facial Coding System in pain assessment of premature neonates.

Extremely premature (< or = 800 g) schoolchildren: multiple areas of hidden disability.

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Honours & Awards

Related News

Research Roundup: January 2022

More than a mattress: This medical device reduces pain and stress in premature babies

Robot an effective pain management tool for premature babies

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