Latest articles
- 03 Jul 2009
This year's NZRA AGM has been been scheduled to occur during a lunch break in the upcoming AFRM/NIRR/NZRA Rehabilitation Conference. All NZRA members and any other interested parties are welcome and encouraged to attend! The organisation runs on the goodwill and participation of interested individuals. Membership forms will be available to anyone attending, and this year the NZRA membership fees has recently been set at a Special Rate of $1 per year. What have you got to loose! Agenda items and proposed changes to our Constitution are listed in this column along with information about the time and venue of the AGM. Read more »
The Cochrane Collaboration is a free (in NZ) online resource that brings you rigorous, independent reviews of best research evidence regarding treatment decisions. Now, selections from this service are brought to you via podcast. Read more »
"I don't know about you, but I'm terrible to accompany to any movie where there is even a suggestion of rehabilitation occurring..." William Levack writes about why he HATED "Million Dollar Baby (2004)" and "Breaking the Waves (1996)" - but also a bit about a movie he did like: "The Butterfly and the Divingbell (2007)", the story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, who writes his memoir by blinking after he suffers locked-in-syndrome following a devastating stroke. Read more »
With the support of the Todd Foundation, Diversityworks Trust has begun a six month project that aims to design a flexible, multi-faceted and sustainable peer-based coaching model to support disabled people, especially young people and whanau/families, to better manage their disability support needs. The project seeks to design a model that gives information, educates and demonstrates techniques for the management of disability support workers, providers and services. Read more »
William Levack has been doodling again. Doesn't he have anything better to do with his time? This week: Wheelchairs of the Future. Read more »
- 02 Jul 2009
Tyson and Kent (2009) undertook a Cochrane Review to examine the effects of use of orthosis (firm splints) for ankles, wrists and hands following stroke. The review came out in favour of use of orthosis for ankles and feet, but was less supportive of the use of orthosis for management of weakness, contracture or pain in the hand or fingers following stroke. Read more »
- 30 Jun 2009
Tsaousides and Ashman (2008) conducted a cross-sectional study looking at the relationship between the perceived importance of work, achievement of return-to-work and improvements in various aspects of health status in a population of people with traumatic brain injury. Read more »
- 30 Jun 2009
Mark Ylvisaker, philosopher, speech-language pathologist, and advocate for children and adolescents with brain injury, died on 24th May 2009 and he will be greatly missed. Read more »
Claire Mackie examines recent social marketing campaigns to change attitudes towards people with disabilities, or at least towards disability parking spaces, and find some wanting... Read more »
- 18 May 2009
Tony Ryall, Minister of Heath, has recently culled the total number of performance targets for the nation's 21 DHBs from ten to six - and yet the emphasis is still on increasing inputs rather than achieving better health outcomes. Arguably, rehabilitation suffers when financial incentives are aligned with surgery rates rather than improvements in functional abilities and quality of life. Like it or not, rehabilitation providers are at the mercy of health funding structures - the more we know about them, the better. Read more »
- 16 Apr 2009
The AFRM/NIRR/NZRA Rehabilitation Conference 2009 will be held in Queenstown from 21-25 July. (Visit www.rehabconference2009.org.nz for details.) The deadline for Early Bird Registration is closing 15 May 2009, so get in quick and register now! Read more »
William Levack
