By Laura Brown de Rodriguez | Founder and Director of Therapies Unite
In January we launched our Posture Care Pilot Project. Our goal with this project is to complete a specialist assessment and provide equipment for 5 children to meet their 24 hour posture care needs. This includes providing a specialist wheelchair, standing frame and positioning system. Alongside the equipment the children, their families/caregivers will receive basic training focusing on the importance of posture care as well as specific training focusing on the equipment being provided and its use. Families will also receive written instructions and information booklets to support the training.
The aims of this project are to reinforce how important posture care is and demonstrate the impact the right education and equipment can have on an individual’s quality of life. In addition it will allow us to look more closely at the service we provide and how we can develop this further. We will be looking at the specific costs associated with providing a 24 hour posture care service to individuals in need and using this evidence we will be looking for companies, organisations and individuals in Mexico and the UK to start sponsoring children for their posture care needs. We will be following the stories of the 5 children and their families closely to see what differences this equipment makes to their lives and will of course be sharing these updates with our supporters.
As we recently reported, our team including Nadia (Physio), Oscar (Technician) and Laura (Therapy Assistant) visited the Centro de Atencion Postural (CAP) in February and spent 4 days receiving an intensive training course in posture care. The main aim of our visit was for the team to develop their skills in the assessment of individuals with complex physical disabilities. The team had a fantastic time in Monterrey and returned to Puerto Vallarta full of enthusiasm and ideas. They have been putting their new skills and knowledge into practice and have continued support from the therapy team at the CAP.
In May our team started to assess children who would benefit from taking part in our pilot project. There are 20 on the list currently with posture care needs, the team has been prioritising them and we almost have our five families selected. Nadia has been completing home visits and whilst assessing suitability for the project she has been able to provide advice, education and book equipment reviews for each child regardless of whether they are going to be in the project or not. This has been a really beneficial piece of work as we have been able to have an impact beyond the 5 families that will be selected.
Outside of the pilot project, Nadia and the team are building the Posture Care database, adding all of the children and adults who are in contact or have been in contact with our service who have posture care needs. The database will allow us to run a more proactive service and significantly impact the quality of life of our service users. Everyone on this list will be offered an initial assessment to include a full review of their posture (baseline measurements) and review of their current equipment and equipment needs. Oscar will offer any repairs or adaptations to their current equipment and we are hoping to be able to offer positioning systems for home for everyone too as these are key. Most individuals only use their wheelchair for 3-6 hours per day so looking after posture in a lying position is really key. Laura has her new industrial sewing machine, which was funded by Blatchford, and she has started to make cushions for positioning systems as well as repairing wheelchair backs, making new harnesses etc. We are still using our remaining stock from the donated UK equipment where possible, although this is almost depleted.
We are really exicted about the next stages of the project and look forwards to reporting back to all our supporters. 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 will make a huge difference to the lives of the individuals who are taking part. If you would like more information about specific costs associated with our Pilot Project and how to sponsor a child for some or all of their equipment please do get in touch.
Thanks again for your support and generous donations...we really could not do it with you!
Laura
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