Rehabilitation Acute rehab services for Life Rehabilitation is expanding its acute physical and Eastern Cape cognitive rehabilitation services to the Eastern Cape, with the opening of a new unit at Life St. Dominic’s Hospital in East London by mid 2007. “There is a huge demand for acute rehabilitation Eastern Cape to ensure that rehabilitation services in services in the Border area. Our new 16-bed unit will the region are streamlined and strengthened as much as significantly improve access to these services, and our possible,” he added. expertise and experience in this highly specialised field “The new development fits in well with Life will bring new hope for persons disabled by traumatic Rehabilitation’s structured expansion strategy to extend brain or spinal injury, stroke or other debilitating our services to regions and communities where these diseases. The new development underscores our are viable and most needed. We are well on our way to steady growth, from just 28 beds when we established providing a national network of quality, specialised our first unit in 1999, to over 150 beds currently in six rehabilitation units,” says Dr Patel. rehabilitation units in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Life Rehabilitation is also in the process of expanding Free State,” says Dr Nilesh Patel, national manager Life Entabeni’s rehabilitation facilities in Durban to rehabilitation. probably double its existing size in the near future. A “The East London unit will accommodate a broad facility upgrade is also underway at Life New Kensington spectrum of rehabilitation services and will be staffed by Clinic in Johannesburg, while Life Pasteur Hospital in a comprehensive interdisciplinary team including a Bloemfontein is expanding from 15 to 27 beds. rehabilitation doctor, nursing staff, therapy professionals Last year, Life Rehabilitation opened a specialised such as speech, occupational and physiotherapists, as stroke unit at Life Little Company of Mary and a well as psychologists, dieticians and a social worker. We neurological and spinal rehabilitation unit at Life Eugene will also work closely with various organisations in the Marais Hospital, both in Tshwane. Disabled team shines in business relay The KPMG-JHI Business Relay, held towards the end of 2006 in KwaZulu- Natal, was an excellent opportunity to expose the abilities of wheelchair- bound people to the business fraternity as well as the general public. The rehabilitation unit at Life Entabeni Hospital took advantage of this occasion by organising accessibility to the race for disabled athletes. Daniel Baijnath of Life Entabeni, left, and Martin Visagie of the company Mr Wheelchair, right, were the only disabled team to enter the relay. Sharon Rawlins, admissions consultant, back, captained the team. KPMG-JHI allocated a separate lane for them, and they were accompanied by Life Rehabilitation employees Lesley Vezi, Thabane Nxumalo, Zandile Sibiya, Dr Hugh Staub and Estelle Buys, who offered support and assistance. The team completed the 15km in good time, and was welcomed into King’s Park with enthusiastic applause. Page 3 Page 6 Neuro CPD calendar for 2007/8 New Entabeni team ISSUE 7 autumn 2007 training and networking NDT course Rehab teams sparkle enhances quality in National Quality Awards of rehab Two Life Rehabilitation teams were amongst the ten finalists in Life Healthcare’s National Quality Awards for 2006. Both teams excelled in presenting the outcomes of the projects to the company’s senior management during the awards event held early this year. Nina Strydom, rehabilitation standards unit manager, all from Life Pasteur manager, and a team from Life Hospital, initiated the other finalist Entabeni Hospital launched the project project, focused on implementing a that championed the employment of user-friendly and effective method of disabled people in Life Healthcare managing functional risks in wards through a process that includes where patients are functionally Estelle Buys, physiotherapist at Life Entabeni’s rehabilitation unit, assisted with competency evaluation, workplace compromised. The system educates the presentation of an adult NDT course adaptation and employee education. staff, patients and families and ensures The project has already been high levels of awareness in managing A professional rehabilitation team instrumental in a number of successful the common risks in care, for example, treats many patients with similar appointments in the Life Healthcare slips and falls. diagnoses, but the patients are vastly network. Both teams reinforced the high different depending on their mental Corina Botha, therapy unit manager, standard and creative commitment to status, level of trauma, support Heleen van Wyk, physiotherapist, quality service delivery in Life systems, previous health status and Christina Fourie, nursing services Rehabilitation units, as well as to the personal circumstances. It is thus manager, and Nelia Fourie, nursing disabled community at large. essential that therapists have the skills and knowledge that equip them to evaluate the clinical challenges they are faced with, and to make individual decisions for each patient. One of the sets of skills that underpin the physical handling of patients is neurodevelopmental therapy (NDT) skills, and for this purpose, Life Rehabilitation in Durban hosted a three-week long adult NDT course on the evaluation and treatment of adults with neurological lesions. Mary Reilly, an The Life Entabeni team: Nadia Cozzi, hospitality manager (second from left), Nadia Vice, experienced trainer and HR practitioner (third from left), Bronwen Glaeser, unit manager trauma (fourth from right), Nina Strydom, rehabilitation standards manager (third from right), and Jill physiotherapist, was the instructor, Dunstone, theatre manager (second from right), seen here with Helene Clement, GM with Estelle Buys, a Life healthcare services (far left), Mike Flemming, managing director (fourth from left), Dena Rehabilitation physiotherapist who is van den Bergh, GM national healthcare functions (fifth from left), and Kathy Wundram, national standards manager (far right). currently training to become an instructor, assisting her. The course accommodated 15 The team from Life Pasteur, participants - nine occupational from left: Dr Michelle van Zyl, therapists, five physiotherapists and a rehabilitation doctor, Corina Botha, unit manager therapy, and speech therapist. Life Rehabilitation Heleen van Wyk, physiotherapist, ensures that a high percentage of its pictured here with Dr Nilesh Patel, national manager rehabilitation. professional staff is NDT-trained. 2 training and networking Neuro CPD events calendar for 2007/8 Life Rehabilitation has put together an exciting CPD programme, featuring topics for all rehabilitation professionals with a special interest in neurology. The events can be viewed on www.rehab.co.za. The focus will be on skills training and various one to CPD TOPICS: three day workshops will be hosted by different Life I Facilitation of breathing for speech intervention Rehabilitation facilities, featuring recognised experts. I Alternative and augmentative communication Each expert will cover theory and practical skills training I Splinting in neurological disability (including the use of as well as patient/equipment demonstrations. In addition, Botox®) participants will be able to practice within the structure of I Upper limb rehabilitation in spinal cord injury the event. I Sexuality in disability Should you be interested in further details, please contact I Using Brunnstrom and Rood’s neurotechniques in Leslene Pükke at [email protected] or on practical therapy 011 219 9620 for a brochure. I Upper limb therapeutic electrical stimulation and The joint congress of the Southern African Spinal Cord splinting Association (SASCA) and the Southern African I Implementing NDT principles for nurses Neurological Rehabilitation Association (SANRA) will be I Sensory integration in adults held at the International Convention Centre in Durban, from I Seating for neurological disability 4 to 7 September 2007. For further details please contact I Cognitive and visual perceptual rehabilitation in Alison Shaw at 031 539 3605 or [email protected]. neurology Technology solutions Private/public sector networking issues and for rehabilitation opportunities to network. There are probably less than 20 medical practitioners who practice full-time in the field of rehabilitation As part of our commitment medicine in South Africa and to networking and sharing currently there are no ideas, Life Rehabilitation’s postgraduate training team of rehabilitation programmes available for A full-day seminar on the latest low to high technology doctors recently visited the medical practitioners who solutions to rehabilitation challenges was held at Life new Western Cape want to specialise in the field Riverfield Lodge in November. Guest speakers covered Rehabilitation Centre in of neurological and spinal augmentative and alternative communication, software Lentegeur, Mitchell’s Plain. rehabilitation. Featured options for cognitive rehabilitation, therapeutic electrical The WCRC is a customised, here, front from left to right, stimulation, treadmill-based unweighing and gait state-of-the-art facility with are Dr Hugh Staub, retrainers, pressure mapping for seating and general 156 beds. The unit is an rehabilitation neurologist at assistive devices. Therapists from all over the country amalgamation of the Life Entabeni Hospital,