2015 NEARLY OVER!

As we approach the end of 2015 we bring you some of the special events of this year and look back on how things have changed in the last 30 years. And how rehabilitation care and independence are interpreted by everyone.

But first before you read on just ponder this thought. Have the 'superhumans portrayal of disability sport and paralysed robot walking made it easier or more difficult for the everyday wheelchair user'.

CONTINUING HEALTHCARE?

Recently MASCIP(multiple disciplinary association of spinal cord injury professionals) focused on continuing healthcare and the Coughlan judgement was something new to me.

Brian O Shea himself C4/5 SCI at MASCIP's conference focus was on continuous health care or does it.

Brian in his dry South African humorous way presented to the audience some of his findings and questioned the audience about rehabilitation and independence. He reminded us that rehabilitation was designed to make us independent but then questioned who was truly independent and what levels of independence are acceptable. Remarking that it's obviously acceptable to rely on petrochemical companies to provide us with the fuel for our car and suggested to the audience that a personal chef was quite a nice thing to have a, chauffeur was even nicer but when that personal chef and chauffeur also took care of your daily living tasks i.e. cleaning your bits and pieces it was certainly a little more undesired, but why?  He then went on to tell us about the Coughlin case and how everybody has a right to get the most of of life and the NHS has a legal obligation to provide continuing care to those who need it. Maybe somewhere in the process of rehabilitation it should be detailed that spending 20 minutes and slicing into your chin with a razor could be better handled by someone with great hand function shaving you in 5, and releasing the other 15 to do something important. Independence is a myth that western culture has put on us to try and reduce our cost to the nation.

Later in the day two of the continuing healthcare team at the NHS presented to tell the audience how they are slowly getting there. Seen in the picture.

Has the new NHS continuing healthcare made it easier for those in real need. Or is it more difficult to become enabled if you don't have the knowledge in today's selective provision system. Contact SIA if you are unaware of how you can improve your life through continuing healthcare.

If you are a professional join MASCIP its free.

CHANGING LIVES, BATEC!

So from the findings at the MASCIP conference we took a look at some of the products and services Cyclone offer and questioned whether they were positive or negative to everyday life of our customers and one product had some reflective positives.

Many people have suggested that the BATEC electric Click'nGo bikes would make people lazy.

Chris Edwards a long time customer and previous employee of Cyclone has proved this theory completely wrong. Chris got a BATEC a year and a half ago and since receiving it has dramatically changed his life, losing 13.5 stones and winning an award from the Cambridge diet organisation.

As stated by his wife Lorraine. 'The Batec does not make him lazy. It ENABLES him to keep up with family life #essential bit of kit for us.'

See the difference for yourself, Chris won the Cambridge family spirit award.

Read here also news from Batec on how working with a serious disability is a positive to society and that whatever your disability could be something for you.

Call now on 0800 180 48 50 and join the growing Batec users club.

REHABILITATION AND WALKING?

Looking back at my own rehabilitation just like Brian did made me realise that some advancements had been made on the surface but what really was the overall results.

I watched the recent videos of Martyn Ashton in his Parawalker and recall the 80's when virtually every para injured at my SCI rehabilitation hospital was given the opportunity to 'walk' with mechanical orthosis devices.

Today we have amazing robotic orthosis devices, more commonly referred to as eksoskeltons. However only one UK NHS SCI centre is offering this in rehabilitation and the question still arises as to what is the real purpose of these new walking tools. But most importantly what cost are these new technologies and will they reach their desired goal or run out of steam.

There is presently 4 robot walkers in the healthcare field, and although the glitz, glamour and spending around the projects is still just like the Frankfurt Motor Show not one of them is breaking even financially. ReWalk announced in their latest quarterly financials that it lost circa $17 million in 9 months and has only $25 million left in cash, meaning that they'll need more investment this time next year or maybe they'll be history. Between the 4 companies they have burn't figures into the $100 millions of dollars in the pursuit of walking and the two biggest don't look to be great opportunities on reflection of the share values.

What could have been done with this amount of funds by the scientists at spinal research, with this amount of cash would we be much closer to the dream that the biomechanics and biomedical research teams are working on.

Cyclone have been pleased to have been part of the journey but walking with Robotics is definitely still mainly therapeutic. And as such our efforts will be focused on more realistic products for mobilisation and getting upright. LifeStand, FES and Reha Technology.

Neuromuscular dysfunction due to disease or trauma is often associated with diminished physical capacity and independence. This can negatively impact sense of well-being and quality of life (QOL). Studies have shown that individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) are at increased risk of poor QOL compared to their non-disabled counterparts.

QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES WITH FES!

QOL has emerged as a critical factor in determining a person's health status. Recognizing this, national and international efforts have produced standard definitions of QOL and questionnaires to be used in clinical studies for assessing QOL via self-reported measures. In addition, a wealth of literature describes development of new methods and trials of novel measures to capture QOL statistics in specific populations and disease groups. QOL is rapidly becoming a key health indicator.
 
Scientific evidence supports the use of a functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycle rehabilitation regime to improve QOL in patients with SCI.

To find out more about how Restorative Therapies and Cyclone have shown that the RT300 has significant QOL benefits email Stuart Dunne.

Our clinical specialist and physiotherapist Matt White can offer further supporting evidence as to how FES exercise can improve health and wellbeing as well as QOL.