Interviews
Inspired by seeing the impact digital could make in rehab, Natalie Mackenzie has gone on to build an internationally-successful business
Vicki Gilman has taken up the post of chair of the British Association of Brain Injury & Complex Case Management (BABICM) at a hugely important time as case management moves into a new post-pandemic chapter, following an unprecedented period where case managers rose to the diverse challenges presented by COVID-19 and helped to create a new future.
While breakthroughs in cancer treatment over the past 40 years have been truly life-changing, with recovery prospects and life expectancy in many common cancers revolutionised, that sadly is not true with regard to glioblastoma (GBM).
As one of the first organisations to recognise and react to the urgent need to address head injury in sport, The Drake Foundation has become a central player in the fast-developing debate over how to best protect players at all levels from the devastating later-life impact of neurodegenerative disease.
As the CEO of the charity SameYou committed to making a difference to the lives of people living with brain injury, as well as being the mother of survivor Emilia Clarke, and a patient herself, Jenny Clarke truly understands the impact of acquired brain injury.
Through the use of AI-powered technology, BrainQ is set to revolutionise the potential for stroke patients in their recovery from disability and lasting effects of their condition. NR Times speaks to co-founder and CEO Yotam Drechsler about the life-changing potential of its electromagnetic field therapy In just a few years from now, the potential for stroke patients to reduce and even reverse disabilities could be reality. Through the groundbreaking work of BrainQ, whose AI-powered electromagnetic field therapy is revolutionising traditional recovery prospects, the outcomes for people who have had a stroke could be unrecognisable against today’s reality. Results from its pilot trial are undeniably exciting - after receiving BrainQ therapy, 77 per cent of patients had either no symptoms or minor symptoms, with no significant disability, scoring one or even zero on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), the gold standard for measuring global disability. Additionally, over 90 per cent of people improved by two or more mRS points through the use of BrainQ’s technology.
A mother and son team who have devised a pioneering standing wheelchair are looking to partner with a manufacturer to bring their prototype to fruition.
The Walking Wheelchair enables people with limited use of their legs to assume a standing position, using a saddle therapy seat and Segway-style wheelbase. Its design, which is aimed at people living with conditions including Muscular Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Motor Neurone Disease and spinal injury (L1-5), is protected by patent and has already won awards for its innovative design. It differs from what is already available through its saddle seat lifting the user’s weight vertically to standing, rather than a conventional seat which tips, and has a gyroscope to balance the standing weight instead of a counterweight. It also has a two wheel wheelbase with a tight turning circle rather than the standard six-wheel base.
“I’ll be honest, when I set up I naively thought I’ll be a lone worker, working at home - I never imagined I’d need a succession plan.”
Like so many others who set up in business, Angela Kerr did not foresee the growth of her venture, AKA Case Management, when she set up in 2002. Having become one of the UK’s best-known case management companies, and with Angela increasingly in demand within the profession after being appointed chair of BABICM in 2016, she knew she needed to address the issue of the long-term future of her thriving business. And the solution lay in the form of Dawn Abernethy, a longstanding member of the AKA team, alongside Andrew Rose, who at that time was a new appointment to the business.
A new report has revealed that the number of people with brain injuries is five times higher within the criminal justice system
NR Times speaks to Chloe Hayward, the UKABIF Director and Gemma Buckland, the Director of Do it Justice, about what the report means and what happens next. The United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF) and the Criminal Justice Acquired Brain Injury Interest Group (CJABIIG) have welcomed a report by the Criminal Justice Inspectorates. The report examined their evidence of neurodiversity within the criminal justice system.
