A team of researchers from the Departments of Software, Automatic Control, Strength of MaMechanical Engineering, Materials and Structural Engineering at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), led by Ulises CortГ©s and Antonio B. MartГ­nez, has designed an intelligent walker (i-Walker) that goes a step beyond conventional walkers as it can communicate with the user, think for itself and react to the environment. The device can understand a set of voice commands and can be activated by means of simple verbal instructions given by the user (e.g., “take me to the kitchen”). To do this, it includes elements for independent movement and a personalized intelligent software agent.

This tool is based on intelligent multiagent systems technology (personal agents or software systems that observe and interact with their surroundings independently, proactively and rationally and have the ability to learn and communicate). It adapts to the specific assistance requirements of the people who use it and enhances their autonomy by helping them to take decisions that are usually beyond their scope due to physical, mobility or cognitive obstacles imposed by ageing or their illness.

The i-Walker can be used for medical rehabilitation as it can help in the recovery and strengthening of motor skills by allowing the amount of aid provided to the user to be adjusted under medical supervision. Parameters such as the effort made by the user in walking, the distance travelled and the calories burned during movement are recorded and measured by the walker. The system uses an accelerometer to detect possible falls, correct itineraries and turning angles and control braking.

The device is part of the European project Supported Human Autonomy for Recovery and Enhancement of Cognitive and Motor Abilities Using Information Technologies (SHARE-it), led by Ulises CortГ©s. The project is part of the Sixth Framework Programme and the Information Society Technologies programme, within the area of Ambient Assisted Living.

Universities, research centres, healthcare centres and companies from Spain, Italy, Germany and Romania are taking part in the project. They include UPC, the University of Malaga, the University of Bremen (Germany), Deutsches Forschungszentrum fГјr KГјnstliche Intelligenz GmbH (Germany), the Ana Aslan International Academy of Aging (Romania), Fondazione Santa Lucia (Italy), Centro Assistenza Domiciliare Azienda Sanitaria Locale RM B (Italy) and TelefГіnica InvestigaciГіn y Desarrollo.

SHARE-it: Intelligent Mechanisms for the Home

The main objective of the SHARE-it project is to contribute to developing a new generation of intelligent and semiautonomous welfare technology systems that can be integrated in homes and other places such as hospitals and geriatric institutions. This is new technology that provides mobility support for people who require continuous assistance or monitoring to help them to live autonomously with the highest level of safety and comfort, in short, to increase their quality of life.

The technology includes systems for facilitating communication, intelligent behaviour and mobility support that are intuitive and can interpret the voice, sight, touch and gestures of the user. These systems can provide assistance to users in their daily activities and report their state of health to the people caring for them via monitoring and mobile systems.

Wheelchair and mobility platform

As well as the intelligent walker, the SHARE-it project is also developing other welfare devices: a semiautonomous wheelchair (Roland III) capable of operating both indoors and outdoors and an innovative semiautomatic platform (Spherik) based on a new type of spherical wheel designed for movement in small spaces.

The three mobile systems walker, wheelchair and platform can detect the position of the patient in the home and in other known environments such as hospitals and primary-care centres as they include a special monitoring system. They can also adapt their autonomy to the requirements of the user by means of a cognitive model based on interpretation of the information provided by the biosensors and on the person’s disability profiles provided by a medical team. This allows them to provide the carers with continuous information on the user’s state of health.

Technology that provides welfare

Welfare technology, particularly innovative technology for the elderly, is an emerging area of research in which there is a great need for innovation, especially considering that Spain will have the most elderly population on the planet by 2050 (43% of the population over the age of 60). Currently, 32% of people in Spain over the age of 65 suffer from some kind of disability. The link between age and disability is becoming stronger because life expectancy is increasing. People are living longer thanks to advances in medicine, but there are also more people who have survived severe illnesses and who suffer from chronic disability.

Robotics, artificial intelligence and information and communication technology such as that included in the intelligent walker developed by UPC can compensate for the loss of sensory, motor and cognitive functions caused by the passage of time and by disease in the elderly. They can also help to reinforce and stimulate human skills and improve well-being in daily life.

UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA
C. Jordi Girona, 31. Edificio Rectorado
Segunda planta
upc.edu/es

A research team led by Iver Anderson is developing a cheaper and better way to make a titanium alloy powder that can be used to manufacture artificial joints.

That could mean titanium joints, which can resist corrosion for the lifetime of a patient, could be affordable enough to replace stainless steel joints, which are commonly used today but can corrode after five years. And that could save patients the additional surgeries required to replace failing artificial joints.

Anderson, a senior metallurgist for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and an Iowa State adjunct professor of materials science and engineering, is hoping the new metals and new processing technology developed by his research team could lead to the creation of a new startup business called Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies and a new biomedical manufacturing industry in Iowa.

A grant from the Grow Iowa Values Fund, a state economic development program, will help advance the titanium powder project and nine others on the Iowa State University campus.

Iowa lawmakers agreed in 2005 to appropriate $5 million per year for 10 years to support economic development programs and research projects at Iowa’s Regent universities. This year’s funding was cut by 20 percent to provide additional state money for flood relief.

This is the fourth time Iowa State has awarded competitive grants from the Grow Iowa Values Fund. The grants are to go to research projects with high potential to boost the state’s economic development efforts. The grants in this year’s competition total $945,246 and range from $25,121 to the $171,499 supporting the titanium powder project.

The state grant will help Anderson and graduate students Andy Heidloff and Joel Rieken build a prototype atomizer to produce the titanium alloy powder.

With support from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Iowa State University Research Foundation, Anderson has already developed and patented a special pouring tube that can stand up to molten titanium and the atomization technology used to convert the molten metal into titanium powder.

With the help of the Grow Iowa Values Fund grant, “We’re putting the pieces together to develop this prototype,” Anderson said. “We want to demonstrate this technology to attract venture capital. This is a great chance to do something like spin off a company.”

The other Grow Iowa Values Fund grants at Iowa State this year are:
$143,814 to Atul Kelkar, professor of mechanical engineering; and Brent Shanks, professor of chemical and biological engineering. They’re working with Innovative Energy Solutions Inc. of Ames to develop a continuous process that uses high temperatures and a combination of catalysts to convert waste plastics, crude oil sludge and tar sand into diesel fuel and other useful products.

$125,550 to Jesse Goff, a professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Goff will work with two Ames companies — Glycomyr and Heartland Assays — to study whether products based on vitamin D3 can inhibit cancer cells.

$117,150 to Victor Lin, a professor of chemistry and program director of Chemical and Biological Sciences for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory; and George Kraus, professor of chemistry and director of Iowa State’s Institute for Physical Research and Technology. They’ll work with a Muscatine company, Grain Processing Corp., to develop a catalytic process that efficiently converts renewable feedstocks into a chemical precursor to a common industrial polymer. The process could reduce industry’s reliance on fossil fuels and some hazardous chemicals.

$104,690 to Michael Olsen, an associate professor of mechanical engineering; Hui Hu, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering; and Z.J. Wang, a professor of aerospace engineering. They’re working with J-TEC Associates Inc. of Cedar Rapids to develop the next generation of meters that measure exhaust flows from automobiles. The technology could help auto manufacturers develop engine technologies that minimize pollutants from biofuels.

$79,050 to Michael Kessler, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering and an associate of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory; and Richard Larock, a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and an associate of the Ames Laboratory. They’re working with an Iowa company to develop resins based on corn, soy and other bio oils that can be used to manufacture fiberglass-reinforced products.

$78,452 to David Grewell, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering; Kessler; Krishna Rajan, professor of materials science and engineering; William Graves, professor of horticulture; and Howard Van Auken, professor of management. They intend to work with five companies: Pella Corp. of Pella, Creative Composites of Brooklyn, Vermeer Corp. of Pella, Soy Works Corp. of Woodridge, Ill. and Freeman Industries of Tuchahoe, N.Y. They want to develop and commercialize plastic products made from corn and soy proteins, including wrapping for hay bales, pots for plants, construction panels, lubrication sticks and other products.

$66,477 to Nicola Pohl, an associate professor of chemistry. Pohl will work with LuCella Biosciences Inc. of Ames to advance a carbohydrate synthesis technology for biologists and pharmaceutical scientists. The technology can fabricate a custom-order, complex carbohydrate molecule in 24 hours; current technology requires six to 12 months for the same molecule at a cost that can be 10 times higher than the new technology.

$33,443 to Timothy Ellis, an associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering. Ellis will work with Envirotech Systems Inc. of Lawton to use rubber particles from scrap tires to develop a process to clean hydrogen sulfide from biogas and other gases.

$25,121 to Gary Munkvold, an associate professor of plant pathology; and Alan Gaul, an assistant scientist in Iowa State’s Seed Science Center. They’ll work with Plasmer Seed of Ames to develop a low-temperature, plasma treatment for seeds that’s designed to reduce pathogen levels in seeds and improve the effectiveness of seed treatment.

###

Source: Iver Anderson

Iowa State University

Children in Somalia need sustained and significant local and international financial and material support to ensure they lead a better life, UNICEF Representative in Somalia, Rozanne Chorlton, said on the occasion of the Day of the African Child marked tomorrow June 16 2010 with the theme: Planning and budgeting for children – Our collective responsibility.

Somalia has for the last 20 years endured conflict and difficult conditions for children and women. No child today in the central and southern parts of the country has lived in or known a peaceful environment. Somalia needs substantial funding and material resources to ensure services such as health, nutrition, education, water sanitation and hygiene and other life-saving interventions are delivered to children as part of recovery, reconstruction and development initiatives.

“Somali communities, families, parents, local administrations, non-governmental organizations, donors and international organizations should have a collective responsibility to put the best interests of the child first,” says Ms Chorlton. “This sense of responsibility should be engrained in various planning and budgeting initiatives for the welfare of Somali children.”
A major impediment to provision of services to children and women in Somalia is that there is too little or limited revenue that can be used to provide services that children require for better livelihoods. For example, a major challenge to planning and budgeting is in the health sector where Somalia needs to spend $35 per person per year to finance a public health system that can deliver basic services primarily targeting children and women.

Somalia is among those least able to do so especially in the Central-South of the country where the Transitional Federal Government provides no public funding for health care. Even where some semblance of local administration exists in Northwest Somalia (‘Somaliland’) and Northeast Somalia (‘Puntland’), the administrations are only able to provide $0.5 per person. The Abuja Declaration commits African governments to contribute 15 per cent of their budgets for health. The Somaliland and Puntland contributions equate to roughly 2 – 3 per cent of their public expnditure.

“Though there is significant private, community and charitable contribution to health services in the country, public health authorities need to take the lead in making realistic commitments to clearly articulated public priorities within their current financial capabilities so as to attract further funding from donors,” says Austen Davis, Chief of Accelerated Child Survival and Development, UNICEF Somalia. “It is also vital that the international community finances projects across multiple years feeding into strategically coherent (and again realistic plans of action) as opposed to disparate short term projects. Donors urgently need to harmonise and pool their financing with other counterparts to ensure longer-lasting, more coherent and strategic engagement.”

Meanwhile, existing models of successful public-private sector collaboration in Somalia, which already benefit children, could be enhanced with additional public money. In a country where scarce water resources and uneven distribution exacerbate poverty and inequalities, the Public-Private Partnership approach – supported by UNICEF and its donors – has made low-cost water, sanitation and hygiene services available in urban settings. These are administered by representative and transparent public-private management mechanisms. Over the last two years these partnerships have succeeded in reaching over 234,000 Somalis with safe water: evidence of how strategic investments can make a real difference. As part of emergency interventions In Central-South Somalia, UNICEF reached over 1,130,000 people (an estimated 226,000 children under-five) affected by conflict, displacement and/or drought with safe water during 2009 through support to the operation and maintenance and chlorination of water systems and sources.

In the education sector, there is a need to increase the numbers of schools to increase the number of children in school – but these schools need supplies and teachers. Needs and resources must be matched – planning to ensure resources are used well is critical. In addition a planned sector can drive towards certain socially desirable outcomes like ensuring enhanced female student enrollment or meeting interim educational needs of internally displaced persons’ children.

The Day of the African Child is marked on 16 June annually. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) – the precursor to the African Union – in 1990 declared 16 June 1991 as the first Day of the African Child. It was set aside as an annual remembrance to mark the massacre of South African school children by armed police during a peaceful demonstration in the Soweto neighbourhood of Johannesburg in 1976. It is marked annually to rededicate commitment to improve the lives of children in Africa.

Source
UNICEF

Christine M. Rupprecht, MSN, RN, nursing specialist for the Army’s Regional Anesthesia & Pain Management Initiative at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, has won the prestigious Celina Field Caregiver Award by the National Pain Foundation (NPF). Ms. Rupprecht is an employee of The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc.

The Celina Field Award recognizes individuals for excellence in caregiving and for their devotion to helping those living with pain. The award, presented twice a year by NPF, honors the late Celina Field, a dance performer and instructor who sustained a serious back injury, the effects of which lead to her eventual death in 2003 at the age of 52. Ms. Field set aside an endowment in her will to help the NPF carry out its mission of empowering those living in pain, as well as the friends and family members who provide care and support.

“The National Pain Foundation is proud to pay tribute to Christine Rupprecht for her groundbreaking achievements in the field of pain management as well as her dedication to, and passion for, providing exemplary care to patients coping with life-altering injuries and the family members who care for them,” said Mark Rasmussen, chief executive officer of NPF.

Rupprecht and her colleagues provide pain management for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with devastating injuries. She helped rewrite the hospital’s policies on pain management through the creation of a Pain Process Improvement Team. Most of Rupprecht’s patients have experienced severe limb injuries or amputations.

Rupprecht also created and leads the Pain Management Task Force, which trains hospital staff on the ever-changing issue of pain management. Rupprecht also developed a pain resource nurse program to train “pain champions” who serve as resources to new nurses and other staff.

“Christine has been a key leader within our organization. Pain physicians can make plans but pain nursing makes those plans work for patients and families. Christine is the backbone of our acute pain service; she has been a very positive influence in the lives of many wounded warriors. I depend on her,” said Col. Chester Buckenmaier, chief, Army Regional Anesthesia & Pain Management Initiative.

Established in 2003, the Army Regional Anesthesia & Pain Management Initiative seeks to improve the management of pain in military and civilian medicine. The initiative is a collaborative research partnership of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington D.C.; Conemaugh Health System, Johnstown, Pa.; Telemedicine and Advanced Technologies Research Center at Fort Detrick, Md.; and The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Rockville, Md.

The educational and procedural programs Rupprecht developed and enacted throughout her career have taught countless providers, administrators, patients and family members about holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to pain and pain management by recognizing pain management as a multimodal and multidisciplinary challenge.

Rupprecht continues to serve as a clinical resource for the Army pain initiative, which has become the model for many civilian pain management programs. Rupprecht, a registered nurse for more than 30 years, is the recipient of the Brian Wilhem Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Military Regional Anesthesia.

###

The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. (HJF) is a private, not-for-profit organization established in 1983 and authorized by Congress to support medical research and education at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and throughout the broader military medical community. For more information, visit hjf/.

Source: Douglas Schauss

Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine

Students from the School of Health Studies will be helping to improve the patient experience when they conduct assessments of patients at the University of Bradford on Tuesday, 11 November, 2008.

The Physiotherapy students will work with patients from a local support group with the aim of the patients to feed back to inform the students what they did well and not so well.

The ‘patients’ come from a The Expert Patient support group in Shipley who are members of the public who have long term health conditions. Members of the group meet every month at Shipley Library to support each other.

The idea is driven from the Department of Health initiative to have patient centred care, where, service users and carers help to shape the National Health Service.

Service User and Carer Co-ordinator in the School of Health Students, Dr Caroline Plews, said: “At this point in the training these Physiotherapy students have not had the opportunity to work with real patients before so this will give them valuable experience.

“Universities that educate and train the health professionals of the future have realised the need to involve service users and carers.

“These sessions have always been very useful to help the students understand in the very widest sense what it is like to have a certain health condition, how it impacts on people’s lives and how health care professionals can work more effectively with patients and users.

“Within the School of Health we are now trying to think about additional kinds of ways that users of the health services from all communities could be involved. By using the experiences of the Shipley Expert Patient Group we hope these will help students develop more insight into the patient’s perspective of the assessment process.”

Source
Emma Banks
and
Grace Wilder
University of Bradford

The University of Central Florida will
immerse stroke survivors in a virtual world full of flying insects to
help expand their range of movement.

Researchers in UCF’s Media Convergence Lab (MCL) are teaming up with
the California-based Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) to create the
program and software that can track patients’ progress.

VRMC obtained a contract last year from the National Science Foundation
to develop the virtual program, and the company teamed up with the UCF
researchers for preliminary work. The research team since has landed a
$199,000 contract to create a fully functional virtual game.В 

Although the game could change slightly, the design will require
patients to put on goggles while sitting at a table. A few bugs would
fly around nearby. The patients’ mission is to smash all of the
virtual insects. Each time they succeed, they would earn a point. As
patients improve their range of motion, more bugs would appear at
greater distances, forcing patients to work harder and increase their
range of motion. Think of a 21st-century version of the childhood game
“Whack-a-Mole.”

v
“It has to be fun so patients will actually do their physical therapy
exercises,” said Eileen Smith, associate director of UCF’s Media
Convergence Lab at the Institute of Simulation and Training.

“One of the sad things about stroke is that it is very isolating,”
she said. “If we can make the game fun for everyone, maybe
grandchildren will jump in while grandma is doing her exercises. Then it
won’t just be a physical therapy session; it will be family time. It
will help patients re-engage.”

Smith is collaborating with the project’s lead researcher, Charles
Hughes, director of the Media Convergence Lab and a professor in UCF’s
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. During their
preliminary work, they found that UCF could produce a viable and
reproducible program with software to track patients’ progress.

Funding for the second phase also will include $99,000 from the Florida
High Tech Corridor.

“We’re ecstatic,” Smith said.В  “It’s our lab’s first phase
II contract, and it is exactly the kind of thing we want. It goes with
our lab’s philosophy. We don’t want to create cool widgets. We want
to create things people can actually use to better their lives.”

Smith and her team are working with a doctor and a physical therapist
along with VRMC to create the prototype. UCF will deliver it to VRMC by
the end of 2009 and provide a license to VRMC to enable
commercialization.

VRMC plans to introduce the program to physical therapy clinics.
Eventually, Mark Wiederhold, VRMC’s president, said the company would
market the product as a take-home program that patients could run on
their computers or hand-held devices.

Wiederhold is a physician who has authored more than 200 journal
articles. He said he partnered with UCF because it is a leader in
simulation technology.

“UCF is in a leadership position in this area of research,”
Wiederhold said.В  “They are a very important team member on this
project. UCF has a collaborating spirit. . . They get it.”

That’s part of the reason Wiederhold will be opening a new office in
Lake Nona’s Medical City. VRMC, which already has an office in
Orlando, then will be close to UCF’s new College of Medicine, with
which Wiederhold is collaborating on other projects.

UCF Stands For Opportunity –The University of Central Florida is a
metropolitan research university that ranks as the 6th largest in the
nation with more than 50,000 students. UCF’s first classes were offered
in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research
environments that power the region’s economic development. UCF’s culture
of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history
of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy. For more
information visit ucf.edu

University of Central Florida

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today unveiled its second experimental walking assist device that helps support bodyweight to reduce the load on an individual’s legs while walking, going up and down stairs, and in a semi-crouching position. The device is designed for people who are capable of walking and maneuvering on their own, but who can benefit from additional leg and body support while performing tasks. Honda will now begin testing the device in real-world conditions to evaluate its effectiveness.

The new walking assist device with the bodyweight support system reduces the load on leg muscles and joints (in the hip, knees, and ankles) by supporting a portion of the person’s bodyweight. The device has a simple structure consisting of seat, frame, and shoes, and the individual can put it on by simply wearing shoes and lifting the seat into position. Moreover, a mechanism that directs the assisting force toward the user’s center of gravity and the ability to control the assist force in concert with the movement of the legs – both unique Honda innovations – make it possible for the device to provide natural assistance in various postures and motions.

Honda began research on a walking assist device in 1999 with the goal to provide more people with the joy of mobility. The first walking assist device, announced in April 2008, has a stride management system and was designed for people with weakened leg muscles, due to reasons such as aging. The research and development of Honda’s advanced humanoid robot, ASIMO, including the study of human walking, provided Honda with the knowledge necessary to develop the walking assist device. This research has been conducted by the Fundamental Technology Research Center of Honda R&D Co., Ltd. in Wako, Saitama. To evaluate the effectiveness of the experimental model of the walking assist device with bodyweight support system, Honda will test the walking assist device at its Saitama Factory (in Sayama, Saitama) starting this month.

Key Features:

1. Convenient sitting-type device

– The individual simply needs to wear shoes and raise the seat into place.
– The user can benefit from the assist without belts fastening the device to their body.
– The structure to position the device between the individual’s legs minimizes the required footprint, therefore making it easier for them to maneuver.

2. Method to assist bodyweight support

– The device will support a portion of the person’s bodyweight by lifting the seat as the frame between the shoe and seat bends and extends, just like knees, with the force from the motor. As a result, the load on leg muscles and joints (in the hip, knees, and ankles) is reduced.

– Honda developed a unique mechanism where the seat and frame follow the movement of the body and legs. The assisting force will be directed toward the individual’s center of gravity, just as with human legs, which enables the device to provide assistance in various movements and postures including walking, going up and down stairs, and in a semi-crouching position.

3. Natural control of the assisting force

– Natural walking is achieved by changing the amount of assisting force applied to the right and left legs through the control of two motors based on the information obtained though sensors imbedded in the shoes of the device.

– The effectiveness of the device was increased in those motions and postures which put increased load on knees, such as going up and down stairs and in a semi-crouching position. This was achieved by adjusting the assisting force in accordance with the bending and stretching motion of the knees.

Key specifications of experimental walking assist device with bodyweight support system:

Weight – 6.5kg (including shoes and batteries)
Drive system – Motor X 2
Battery pack – Lithium ion battery
Operating time per charge – 2 hours (including walking and in a semi-crouching posture, etc.)
Suitable height of the user – Within plus or minus 5cm of the set height
(Example: set height for Medium size is 170cm)

Click here to view video online

hondanews

Research released today by the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees (ICAR) at City University London and Refugee Support/Metropolitan Support Trust (MST) has found that disabled refugees and asylum seekers in London are not receiving enough support from mainstream disability organisations, a number of whom are unclear about the rights and entitlements of these groups.

The research titled ‘Supporting disabled refugees and asylum seekers: opportunities for new approaches’, was commissioned by MST to examine the role of refugee community and mainstream disability organisations in supporting refugees and asylum seekers in London. The project focused on physical and sensory impairment because apart from mental health, there is a significant lack of research on disabled asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.

Asylum seekers in particular encountered the most barriers in accessing statutory services for health, housing and benefits. The barriers include language issues such as a lack of interpreters in doctors’ surgeries and provision for the deaf and blind; and additional disadvantages experienced by women, such as addressing sensitive issues with GPs or dependence on husbands who, as the main asylum applicant, they rely on to resolve their status in the UK.

Neil Amas, Director of ICAR says: “The research shows there is a considerable support gap between the specialist refugee sector and mainstream disability sector. While Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) play a huge role, their resources are overstretched so do not meet the needs of disabled asylum seekers and refugees.”

Statutory providers such as local borough social services departments were found to be applying the law around care and support inconsistently or on occasion inappropriately particularly when dealing with disabled asylum seekers. All of the asylum seekers interviewed for the research had experienced difficulty in accessing the care they needed, when approaching their local social service department.

“Unless policy makers and service providers reach out to these groups and RCOs receive more funding and training, the needs of disabled asylum seekers and refugees will increasingly be overlooked.”

Barbara Roche, Chair of Metropolitan Support Trust, says: “This research highlights the poor deal that refugees and, particularly asylum seekers face when seeking support and assistance. RCOs don’t have the capacity to specialise in disability issues but are often the first port of call for refugees and asylum seekers; mainstream disability organisations don’t see this group as a priority; and neither RCOs or mainstream disability groups have much of a relationship. There are lessons for the Home Office and social services departments too. We need to work together to do more and give fair access and support to all disabled people.”

Refugee organisations specifically RCOs reported that mental health was the most common kind of disability among their refugee and asylum seeking service users. Although providing some support, RCOs were found to be under resourced and in some cases seen to have a lack expertise on disability issues.

Dr Alan Simpson, research fellow and lecturer in mental health at City University London says:
“The serious mental health needs of refugees and asylum seekers have been recognised and identified by the Department of Health as a ‘key group’ for targeted, coordinated care under the new Refocused Care Programme Approach (CPA), launched recently. City University London is about to deliver training for mental health staff working in East London that will help them deliver effective mental health care to refugees, asylum seekers and others in the area with mental health and other complex needs.”

Some of the barriers to accessing support experienced by disabled asylum seekers and refugees are shared by existing disabled populations in the UK, and in particular those from black and Asian minority ethnic groups. The findings also show asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers are especially vulnerable to poverty, hardship and associated mental health problems because of their circumstances, yet they still face exclusion from benefits and support.

The key policy recommendations include regular training for mainstream disability organisations, statutory services, UK Border Agency and RCOs on disability law and definitions, immigrants rights and entitlements and on the use of interpreters, a Home Office review of disability support for asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers and a review of existing data collection by organisations to improve the current lack of information on the needs of disabled asylum seekers and refugees.

The research is being launched at the Mayor’s Office at City Hall on 14 November.

Further information about the research findings and recommendations can be found at refugeesupport/researchandconsultancy.html

Notes

-The research was conducted in two parts: a literature review of relevant policy, legislation and research, followed by qualitative research with both service providers and disabled refugees and asylum seekers. 51 short, survey-based telephone interviews were carried out initially, followed by 19 in-depth interviews with Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs), disability organisations, Citizens Advice Bureaux, refugee support organisations, representatives of local and central government and specialist solicitors. Finally in-depth semi-structured interviews were held with 21 disabled refugees and asylum seekers – including asylum seekers who have had their asylum claims refused. As well as support from the MST, it was supported by the Greater London Authority.

-City University London is a principal provider of undergraduate, postgraduate, professional and vocational education in the United Kingdom. The University is committed to leading London in education, research and knowledge transfer for businesses and the professions and is renowned for its international focus and the employability of its graduates.

The University teaches across a range of subjects in arts including journalism and music, informatics, social sciences, engineering and mathematical sciences, business, law, health and community sciences.

The University attracts over 23,000 students from 156 countries, while teaching staff are drawn from nearly 50 international locations, ensuring that the University has a truly international outlook.

City University London was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute and was awarded full university status in 1966. Please see the following link for more information city.ac

- The research was commissioned by the Research and Consultancy Unit at Refugee Support/Metropolitan Support Trust. MST is one of the largest supported housing organisations in the country and operates across London, Midlands and Yorkshire. Its 700 staff provides services to a wide range of people with support needs including refugees and asylum seekers, under the Refugee Support name.

- The term ‘refugee’ has a strict legal definition set out in the Refugee Convention meaning a person who ‘owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.’

-
However, for the purposes of this report, the term refugee will be understood in its most general sense as referring to all migrants who were forced to leave their country of origin and have been granted some form of leave to remain in the UK.

- An asylum seeker is a person who has fled their country of origin to make an application for protection in another country and is awaiting a decision on their claim.

A refused asylum seeker is a person whose application for asylum has not been accepted by the Home Office and who has exhausted all rights of appeal against this decision.

City University London

In what is believed to be the first time in the United States, a nerve transfer was performed on a paraplegic to relieve life-threatening pressure ulcers – a common side effect associated with wheelchair-bound patients. The surgery took place on November 11, 2008, at Monmouth County Medical Center, and was performed by a team of medical professionals led by Dr. Andrew Elkwood, M.D. of the Plastic Surgery Center in Shrewsbury, NJ.

Yesterday’s surgery was performed on a 65-year old Monmouth County man, who was left paraplegic after being caught in a gunshot crossfire several years ago. As part of the procedure, Dr. Elkwood and his team surgically removed nerves from the patient’s paralyzed legs to his chest and successfully relieved the acute pain caused by the pressure ulcers. Ultimately, the surgery is intended to stimulate sensation in the patient’s posterior.

Dr. Elkwood commented, “Our goal was to first fix the immediate problem, the pressure sores, and then attempt to fix the cause. We are extremely pleased with the initial results of the procedure and are therefore encouraged by the long-term potential for the surgery. Specifically, if this proves successful, it can be life-altering for tens of thousands of wheelchair-bound patients whose lives are subjugated by acute pressure ulcers and sores.”

Images available upon request.

About Dr. Elkwood

Dr. Andrew Elkwood, M.D., is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who practices at The Plastic Surgery Center in Shrewsbury, NJ. He performs unique operations involving nerve transplantation and complex reconstruction. Dr. Elkwood is a pioneer in sural nerve grafting procedures, where he transfers nerves from one part of a patient’s body to another to treat life-altering injuries. He also uses this procedure to eliminate common side effects caused by prostate cancer removal, such as impotence and incontinence. Dr. Elkwood serves as the Chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, NJ, and is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery in General Surgery and Plastic Surgery. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgery (FACS) and a Fellow of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

Plastic Surgery Center

Lawmakers and more than 75 disability advocacy groups have begun lobbying Congress and the future administration of President-elect Barack Obama to eliminate the wait time the disabled face in qualifying for Medicare, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/12). Current rules require a two-year waiting period for people the Social Security Administration has deemed too ill or disabled to work before they are eligible for Medicare benefits (CongressDaily, 11/12).

According to the AP/Chronicle, at any given time, about 1.5 million people who are disabled are waiting to qualify for Medicare coverage. About 40% are uninsured at some point during the waiting period and 25% are uninsured during the entire two-year period, the AP/Chronicle reports. While some people rely on Medicaid in the interim, others “end up depleting their savings on private insurance and medical bills,” according to the AP/Chronicle (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/12). In some cases, “the gap in coverage leads patients to forgo treatment, resulting in more expensive care after insurance kicks in,” according to Lee Grossman, president of the Autism Society of America (CongressDaily, 11/12).

Among the groups supporting the elimination of the wait period are the American Cancer Society, the Alzheimer’s Association, the National Association of People with AIDS, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Medicare Rights Center. In addition, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has said he supports ending the waiting period (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/12).

Legislation
Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) are sponsoring companion bills (HR 154, S 2102) that over 10 years would gradually eliminate the waiting period and would establish a system to immediately grant coverage to people with life-threatening illnesses, the AP/Chronicle reports. Green said, “Every year, we’d reduce it by a few months, so we get down to a level that’s manageable for folks.”

Bingaman and Green are hoping to get their bills included in a larger health care overhaul package that Obama likely will pursue once in office. If attaching the bill to a larger package is unsuccessful, Green and Bingaman plan to introduce the bills independently, according to the AP/Chronicle (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/12).

Green said that funding is the largest impediment, adding, “We haven’t crossed that bridge yet to see where we’ll get the offsets. That will be something we’ll have to deal with” (CongressDaily, 11/12). According to the AP/Chronicle, researchers estimate that eliminating the wait period in one step would cost about $9 billion annually, which is why Green and Bingaman have proposed a gradual elimination. The AP/Chronicle reports that the cost would be offset in part by a $4 billion savings from Medicaid (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/12).

Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.