Provide a Posture Care Clinic for Mexican Children

2024 is set to bring some exciting new changes and developments to our Posture Care Service in Puerto Vallarta. Over the past 14 years we have been establishing our key projects in Mexico, striving to focus on understanding the needs of the local community of individuals with a disability as well as the health care professionals and services that support them. This has been key to our development and this year we are going to be taking a big step forwards with our Posture Care Service. 

But what is Posture Care and why does it matter?

Posture care is a 24 hour approach which incorporates equipment, positioning techniques, therapy and education to help protect and restore body shape in people with movement difficulties. Individuals who have difficulties in controlling their body position will often be limited with how they can sit and lie. This increases the risk of developing body shape distortions. There are many complications associated with failing to protect body shape which can have serious consequences for a person's health. Although Posture Care should begin from birth, it is never too late to start protecting body shape, deterioration is not inevitable.  In Mexico there is a lack of education and therefore understanding about the importance of posture care as well as lack of provision/access to of specialist equipment.  As a result people with severe deformities and secondary health problems are often isolated and denied basic human rights, such as access to an education, employment and being able to integrate into society.

What have we done so far?

With the support of some incredible organisations over the years, we have been fortunate to be able to ship 5 large containers of second hand equipment from the UK. This equipment has been donated locally and has benefited hundreds of individuals in need. However there are limitations to sending equipment to Mexico. These include the costs associated with the shipment itself in addition to not being able to provide a fully holistic service that focuses on the individual’s equipment and posture care needs.

As we have talked about previously, one of our aims is to source more products locally, as well as look at supporting the development of specialist equipment provision in Mexico. In order to do this we are starting to work more closely with the Centro de Atencion Postural (CAP) in Monterrey. The CAP was first established in 2004 by Sarah Davies, (who is the founder of a wonderful UK charity called MeDICT), to help provide specialist posture assessments and equipment for children with Cerebral Palsy. The CAP has developed considerably since it started and now manufactures its own products and has a large team of therapists that are specialists in posture management. We are very excited to share that our team, Nadia, Oscar and Laura, will be visiting the CAP in Monterrey at the beginning of February to spend a week there learning more about the assessment process and the products they provide.

Pilot Project 2024

Following this, we will be running a pilot project in Puerto Vallarta. We are aiming to complete a specialist postural assessment and provide equipment (from the CAP) for 5 children to meet their 24 hour posture care needs. This will include a specialist wheelchair, standing frame, positioning system and education/training for their family and any health care providers/day services that are involved in their care. We will be following the stories of the 5 children and their families closely to see what differences this equipment makes to their lives. The aims of this project are to reinforce how important posture care is, demonstrate what impact the right education and equipment can have on an individual’s life and look more closely at the service we provide and how we can develop this. In addition, we will be looking at the specific costs associated with providing a 24 hour posture care service to individuals in need.

Posture is Key

We do not believe that any child should suffer the consequences of not having access to the right piece of equipment, regardless of where they live in the world.

At present there is no postural care service that exists in Puerto Vallarta. Our goal is to develop and expand our Postural Care Service through information, training, equipment provision and a posture care pathway that identifies those in need of support. Posture care intervention has the potential to assist in enhancing and maximising an individual’s abilities, independence, promoting health, increasing integration into society and improving quality of life. The difference the right posture care input can make truly is life changing.

It is essential that children with posture care needs are assessed from a very early age so that they can gain access to specialist assessment/posture services, equipment and a holistic, individualised posture care plan. It is also crucial that families and health care providers have better access to education and more support around posture care. Without intervention, these children often suffer severe secondary complications, commonly including the development of deformities that have a significant impact on physical and mental health and can often lead to premature death.

This is one of the largest projects we have run to date and most costly due to the expense of the specialist equipment we will be providing and additional training for our team. However, it is key to developing our Posture Care service and we are really excited about the outcome and additional support that we hope it will bring. We look forwards to keeping you updated throughout the year and ask for your support if you are able to make a donation towards this project.

Thank you for your continued support and to the Trustees of Therapies Unite and our supporters in Mexico who have worked hard to make this project a reality.

Links:

• Centro de Atencion Postural
• Therapies Unite Website