BAIL's TALES : OCTOBER

Kia Ora from the team at BAIL

What a month we have had at BAIL. With our NZ Spinal Trust colleagues and some volunteers from Dynamic Controls, eight of us packed up and emptied out our beloved Allan Bean Centre in 15 hours.

This effort was certainly a testament to good planning and great team work. It was a sad time but we had lots of fun and created a huge pile of old stuff to throw out. We have now officially relocated to The Marshland Room next to the old entrance to Burwood and although it looks like a war command centre and on some days you almost need a shoe horn to get in, it is working out really well.

With a lot of help from kiwi friend Di Geda (ex Chch) proof reader in Italy, Anne Sinnott recently concluded a two + year project reworking text to turn a Swedish SCI book into a universally acceptable English version entitled 'The Art of Healthy Living with Physical Impairments'. This Stockholm based project was the brain child of Anna-Carin Lagerstrom from the Spinalis Foundation and Kerstin Wahman from Rehab Station - the Swedish version of which was published in May 2012. We are very pleased to announce the English edition has now been published and copies are expected in the country in time for Christmas stocking fillers. It is quite a work of art in itself and worth reading for the fabulous photographs and Swedish recipes!

We can also report that the paper which followed Rachelle Martin’s Masters featuring a number of BAIL folk has been published this month in Disability and Rehabilitation.
Martin, R, Levack, W, Sinnott, KA. Life goals and social identity in people with severe acquired brain injury: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.

STUDY UPDATES
Exciting scoping study exploring internet usage for those with specific neurological conditions.
A scoping study exploring internet usage by people living with neurological conditions has just commenced. Researchers from AUT, Massey University and BAIL (Professor Richard Siegert, Dr Deborah Snell, Dr Martin Sullivan, Dr Duncan Babbage and Claire Freeman) are working to better understand internet usage for those who have had a traumatic brain injury, stroke or have multiple sclerosis. As the study is in its preliminary phase, researcher Claire Freeman will document existing literature on the topic and explore potential issues people with those neurological conditions face as they use the internet. Claire will also explore what people with disabilities are using the internet for and what barriers there might be in gaining access to what is potentially an important tool in aiding wellbeing.
We are very grateful to InternetNZ and Deloitte for funding this project.

We have also been successful in obtaining a Canterbury Medical Research Foundation (CMRF) project grant for another new project that will examine the effectiveness of rehabilitation for people with osteoarthritis who undergo joint replacement surgery. This is a collaboration between BAIL and researchers from Georgetown University in Washington DC lead by Dr Deborah Snell. The study will begin in November this year.

WHAT’S COMING UP?
NZRA clinician oriented workshop November
We are thrilled to confirm the NZ Rehabilitation Association, hosted by BAIL, is planning on presenting a mini symposium on rethinking goal setting for rehabilitation clinicians. This will be held on Thursday 13th November 1pm-5pm at the Chapel here at Burwood. Watch this space for more details about this exciting opportunity and note this date in your diaries.

Hans Wouters – Project Manager Burwood Academy Of Independent Living.