ARC Innovation and Sheba Medical Center, Israel’s largest medical center and a Newsweek ranked world’s best hospital for the last five years, announced today the integration of technology developed by two startups, Cognishine and Kemtai, to augment healthcare in the hospital’s newly expanded rehabilitation ward.

Sheba Medical Center is home to Israel’s largest rehabilitation hospital. Amid the Israel-Hamas war, Sheba expanded the hospital with the addition of a new state-of-the-art 36-bed ward to treat wounded soldiers. The new ward leverages a range of innovative digital medical technologies to augment medical staff capabilities and improve overall quality of care. 

“Now is the time to innovate. During the COVID pandemic, Sheba created innovative solutions to save lives and helped set the health protocols for the rest of the world,” said Prof. Eyal Zimlichman, Chief Transformation Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at Sheba Medical Center and Director and Founder of ARC Innovation. “Times of crisis present an opportunity to accelerate innovation and transformation in care. And this is exactly what we are setting out to do, given the immense need for rehabilitation in Israel at this time.”

To maximize the effectiveness of the new ward, Sheba called upon Israel’s startup ecosystem, inviting health tech companies to submit solutions for potential use in the rehab hospital. Out of 82 companies that applied to the project, eight were selected to pitch their solutions to a panel of Sheba clinicians and industry leaders. Out of these eight companies, Cognishine and Kemtai were selected to begin a pilot program at Sheba, with the aim of incorporating the solutions into day-to-day rehab treatment.

Cognishine’s digital platform supports therapists in providing effective care for cognitive, emotional, speech and language disorders. Digitizing traditional therapeutic processes, the company offers a wide range of activities based on real-world scenarios to help patients to regain cognitive, speech and social-emotional capabilities.

“Cognishine extends the reach of medical professionals, enabling them to continue providing care through digitized therapeutic activities aiding cognitive abilities,” said Nimrod Zilkha, Co-Founder & CEO of Cognishine. “We are honored to play a role alongside Sheba helping soldiers recover from the war and get back to their daily lives.”

Kemtai is an AI-powered exercise platform for physical therapy and rehab, compatible with most phones and computers. The app provides real-time feedback and corrective guidance during exercise, enabling patients to improve their performance and accelerate recovery.

“Kemtai is enabling patients to fully adhere to their rehabilitation exercises with AI-guided, real-time guidance, helping achieve the best possible outcomes,” said Dr. Mor Amitai, CEO of Kemtai. “Our pilot at Sheba will see even more patients with physical limitations recover through augmented exercise.”

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About Sheba Medical Center

The largest and most comprehensive medical center in the Middle East, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer is generating global impact through its medical care, research and healthcare transformation. Sheba’s City of Health boasts acute-care, rehabilitation, children’s, cancer and geriatric hospitals, research and innovation hubs, medical simulation center and center for disaster response on one comprehensive campus in the center of Israel. Sheba serves as a true hospital without borders, welcoming patients and healthcare professionals from all over the world and consistently providing the highest-level medical care to all in need. Sheba has been ranked a World’s Best Hospital by Newsweek five years in a row (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023). For more information, visit: https://sheba-global.com/

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The 25-year-old blogger and college student has autism and several chronic illnesses, and with the support of her grandparents and friends, who help her access a complex network of social services, she lives relatively independently in Johnson City, Tennessee.

“If something happens to them, I’m not certain what would happen to me, especially because I have difficulty with navigating things that require more red tape,” she said.

Johnson said she hasn’t made plans that would ensure she receives the same level of support in the future. She especially worries about being taken advantage of or being physically harmed if her family and friends can’t help her — experiences she’s had in the past.

“I like being able to know what to expect, and thinking about the future is a bit terrifying to me,” she said.

Johnson’s situation isn’t unique.

Experts say many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities do not have long-term plans for when family members lose the ability to help them access government services or care for them directly.

Families, researchers, government officials, and advocates worry that the lack of planning — combined with a social safety net that’s full of holes — has set the stage for a crisis in which people with disabilities can no longer live independently in their communities. If that happens, they could end up stuck in nursing homes or state-run institutions.

“There’s just potential for a tremendous human toll on individuals if we don’t solve this problem,” said Peter Berns, CEO of the Arc of the United States, a national disability-rights organization.

About one-quarter of adults in the U.S. live with a disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly three-quarters of Americans with disabilities live with a family caregiver, and about one-quarter of those caregivers are 60 or older, according to the Center on Developmental Disabilities at the University of Kansas.

But only about half of families that care for a loved one with disabilities have made plans for the future, and an even smaller portion have revisited those plans to ensure they’re up to date, said Meghan Burke, an associate professor of special education at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

“Engaging in it once is good, right? But you can’t only engage in it once,” she said. “It’s a living document, because things change, people change, circumstances change.”

Burke’s research has found several barriers to planning for the future: financial constraints, reluctance to have hard conversations, trouble understanding government services. Creating plans for people with disabilities also is a complex process, with many questions for families to answer: What are their relatives’ health needs? What activities do they enjoy? What are their wishes? Where will they live?

Burke has firsthand experience answering those questions. Her younger brother has Down syndrome, and she expects to become his primary caregiver in the future — a situation she said is common and spreads the work of caregiving.

“This is an impending intergenerational crisis,” she said. “It’s a crisis for the aging parents, and it’s a crisis for their adult offspring with and without disabilities.”

Nicole Jorwic, chief of advocacy and campaigns for Caring Across Generations, a national caregiver advocacy organization, said the network of state and federal programs for people with disabilities can be “extremely complicated” and is full of holes. She has witnessed those gaps as she has helped her brother, who has autism, access services.

“It’s really difficult for families to plan when there isn’t a system that they can rely on,” she said.

Medicaid pays for people to receive services in home and community settings through programs that vary state to state. But Jorwic said there are long waitlists. Data collected and analyzed by KFF shows that queue is made up of hundreds of thousands of people across the country. Even when people qualify, Jorwic added, hiring someone to help can be difficult because of persistent staff shortages.

Jorwic said more federal money could shorten those waitlists and boost Medicaid reimbursements to health care providers, which could help with workforce recruitment. She blamed chronic underinvestment in Medicaid disability services for the lack of available slots and a dearth of workers to help people with disabilities.

“It’s going to be expensive, but this is four decades of funding that should have been done,” she said.

Congress recently put about $12.7 billion toward enhancing state Medicaid programs for home- and community-based services for people with disabilities, but that money will be available only through March 2025. The Build Back Better Act, which died in Congress, would have added $150 billion, and funding was left out of the Inflation Reduction Act, which became law this summer, to the disappointment of advocates.

Jeneva Stone’s family in Bethesda, Maryland, has been “flummoxed” by the long-term planning process for her 25-year-old son, Rob. He needs complex care because he has dystonia 16, a rare muscle condition that makes moving nearly impossible for him.

“No one will just sit down and tell me what is going to happen to my son,” she said. “You know, what are his options, really?”

Stone said her family has done some planning, including setting up a special needs trust to help manage Rob’s assets and an ABLE account, a type of savings account for people with disabilities. They’re also working to give Rob’s brother medical and financial power of attorney and to create a supported decision-making arrangement for Rob to make sure he has the final say in his care.

“We’re trying to put that scaffolding in place, primarily to protect Rob’s ability to make his own decisions,” she said.

Alison Barkoff is acting administrator for the Administration for Community Living, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Her agency recently released what she called a “first ever” national plan, with hundreds of actions the public and private sectors can take to support family caregivers.

“If we don’t really think and plan, I’m concerned that we could have people ending up in institutions and other types of segregated settings that could and should be able to be supported in the community,” said Barkoff, who noted that those outcomes could violate the civil rights of people with disabilities.

She said her agency is working to address the shortages in the direct care workforce and in the supply of affordable, accessible housing for people with disabilities, as well as the lack of disability-focused training among medical professionals.

But ending up in a nursing home or other institution might not be the worst outcome for some people, said Berns, who pointed out that people with disabilities are overrepresented in jails and prisons.

Berns’ organization, the Arc of the United States, offers a planning guide and has compiled a directory of local advocates, lawyers, and support organizations to help families. Berns said that making sure people with disabilities have access to services — and the means to pay for them — is only one part of a good plan.

“It’s about social connections,” Berns said. “It’s about employment. It’s about where you live. It’s about your health care and making decisions in your life.”

Philip Woody feels as though he has prepared pretty well for his son’s future. Evan, 23, lives with his parents in Dunwoody, Georgia, and needs round-the-clock support after a fall as an infant resulted in a significant brain injury. His parents provide much of his care.

Woody said his family has been saving for years to provide for his son’s future, and Evan recently got off a Medicaid waitlist and is getting support to attend a day program for adults with disabilities. He also has an older sister in Tennessee who wants to be involved in his care.

But two big questions are plaguing Woody: Where will Evan live when he can no longer live at home? And will that setting be one where he can thrive?

“As a parent, you will take care of your child as well as you can for as long as you can,” Woody said. “But then nobody after you pass away will love them or care for them the way that you did.”

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The incidence of walkers and other assistive devices like canes has increased 50% in the last ten years since a survey was completed. With the aging of our population and the increasing incidence of orthopedic surgeries requiring aids, the numbers will only increase in the future.

But as the numbers increase, what’s happening with the design of these walkers? We don’t live in elevator buildings, nor do we all have ramped sidewalks or never have to ascend a flight of stairs or go down one.

What happens when someone dependent on a walker is in a situation like that? You know what it is; they need a helper. Independence is terminated either permanently or for a time.

A study indicated that 25% of the older American public now use assistive devices such as walkers. It is expected to double to 50% in the next decade or two.

What happens when you take a gut punch at someone’s self-esteem by removing their independence? The stress leads to immune system problems in persons already at risk. They are also at risk for mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, which furthers their feelings of inability to care for themselves. Their main concern for using walkers is what? They fear they’ll fall without one and won’t be able to get up. If they do fall, that compounds the worry they experience.

Design and Walkers

I quickly searched on Youtube to see what was being done with walker design. The only walker that allows someone to go up and down stairs by themselves utilizes a motorized tread and complicated electronics, plus it weighs over 65 lbs.

The walker was the brainchild of a group of engineering students where one member, who had taken a trip to Europe, noticed how difficult it was for persons with walkers to board buses or freely move about cities. Isn’t it difficult in the US for persons with walkers? And did they ever get a patent for the design? I don’t know, but I think expense would be a formidable barrier to overcome. And Medicare will only allow for ONE assistive device such as a basic walker or a cane; you can have either, but not both.

What is desirable in a walker? A few things are essential: a seat, a storage compartment, brakes, medium-sized wheels, and the ability to fold up and be reasonably priced. A lighter walker that accommodates gait differences didn’t have the seat and braking system other units feature. Not all walkers consider a person’s walking stride, and the seat on the unit may not slide, therefore, hitting their knees as they walk.

Here’s another with a bag to carry items and a small seat for fatigued individuals. But what about handles that can be extended upward for taller individuals? Most have a maximum height that may not suit everyone — unless you want to pay more for one that is heavier. The person is constantly slouching forward if it doesn’t have adjustable handles.

Another can be adjusted for going up stairs but has no brakes and isn’t height-adjustable, so it is for a limited number of people. With no brakes comes increased anxiety.

Who cares about colors? Persons who use walkers want stability, durability, and lightweight units that are not abhorrently expensive and have to fold into the trunk of something less than an SUV.

We have excellent, creative minds in our rehabilitation/bioengineering programs in the US, so why aren’t we seeing more attention being paid to the type of walker people need and can afford? A walker isn’t a luxury item; it is an essential life aid for anyone with a disability.

The post The Elderly, the Disabled, and Others Are Prisoners of Brutal, Inadequate Walkers appeared first on Medika Life.

Perhaps the cloak of invisibility these disabilities provide may furnish a greater ability to navigate our society as they wish. Those who are dependent on wheeled or motorized rides or braces are hard to ignore, but ignore them we do.

Think about it for a moment. If you had to ring a bell each time you wanted to have someone come to open the door to a local community center, how would you feel? Oh, you’d be OK with it? Suppose no one came? How would you feel if it were the dead of winter or raining hard or the wind was blowing your coat open as you waited in vain?

What if, when you had to use the lavatory at that same center, you encountered a “courtesy” or “modesty” panel once you managed to get the first door open? Or what if you went into the handicapped stall and found yourself trapped, yelling for help, and no one came? How helpless and maybe even embarrassed would you be? You’d be OK with that, too?

Both of these situations happened to a person who serves on a local committee to respond to the needs of the town’s disabled citizens. What was the response to this individual’s situation? The group dismissed it because someone would come to open the outside door—no need for one of those expensive automatic doors where you push a large plate to open it.

And surely, the lavatory needed that modesty panel, and someone did come to help the person in need after they yelled. But help didn’t come immediately, and there was no way other than yelling to signal a need for help. They failed to see how either situation could be demeaning to someone’s self-esteem. And this is a committee that was formed to advocate for the disabled.

Non-disabled persons fail to understand the many impediments between a physically disabled person and any pursuit, be it a restaurant, a bus, a theatre, or an athletic competition. The disabled are often not considered in too many designs for buildings or transportation.

Sure, my town has installed dimples on the sloped areas at corner crossings so those with sight impairment know where to cross the street. But one local disabled woman, who used a wheelchair, was hit and killed by a car when she tried to enter a local supermarket parking lot — there was no sidewalk leading into the lot. The national supermarket chain assumed everyone on foot would enter the lot almost two blocks away, where there is a sidewalk. The disabled were never considered in the parking lot design.

Even if you had to use a walker, do you know where you’d be put in too many theatres? Yes, off to the side or in the back in a “handicapped” section. Can you say you’d be “sent to Coventry?” Go on a bus with a walker or wheelchair? It’s another time you must opt for a cab or an Uber. Buses don’t have spaces for walkers, and not many have lifts that work for wheelchairs.

Want to go birding on the weekend at a considerable nature center on the East Coast of the US? Well, don’t plan on any help from employees because the governor cut the budget to the bone, which meant no employees on weekends.

Yes, there are boardwalks for those with mobility disabilities, but if there’s a problem or a safety issue, you’d better have helpers with you. Theft may be the least of your troubles.

What about going away to a quaint bed-and-breakfast for a vacation? Everywhere you go, there must be an elevator.

I recall going to California on a vacation years ago, and we went to a Seaworld site. As we entered the walkway leading to the tanks with the orcas, a young family was walking there, too. The couple had two children, a boy, and a girl. I will never forget the young, attractive, possibly, 10-year-old girl who was wrapped in the most elaborate body brace I’d ever seen.

The couple laughed and joked with the kids, and I had to admire the strength it must have taken to get to that place in their minds, never mind to take their kids to a park like this. Sometimes, I wonder what became of her or the young girl I saw standing on a table in a rehab shop where they fitted her with Plaster of Paris and cloth for a body brace.

My visit to the shop was minor. I had to have metal shanks sewn into my shoes’ soles to help my feet heal. As I marveled at the girl’s patience and the size of the brace grow, I said a silent prayer of thanks to myself.

Once outside the shop, wearing my newly rehabbed shoes, a young boy with his mother cried out, “Look, ma, she’s crippled,” as I tried to walk down the street. His mother quickly leaned over and admonished him. The shanks broke within a week, and I had to return for a more substantial pair. The moment and the images have stayed with me still.

Yes, we live in a society that prides itself in its inclusiveness of those who have been pariahs in the past. Don’t be too proud because there’s still much work to be done.

The post When Do the Disabled Get the Respect and Services They Deserve? appeared first on Medika Life.

No one wants to deny anyone with an emotional or physical handicap/disability the aid they need to meet the challenges in their lives. None of us want to be scammed, either, by people who are so self-indulgent that they are using the system. How difficult should it be to receive certification for emotional support animals, and should there be a limit to what types of animals may meet this certification? Do animals require certification of any kind?

Is the certification limited to dogs and cats, or can it be extended to peacocks, miniature horses, and other small farm animals? No, it’s not ludicrous because their owners have brought all of these animals to board passenger planes. However, these are the ones that make your eyes bug out as you murmur something indistinguishable and probably censorable under your breath.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has specific guidelines for what constitutes a service animal and whether or not emotional support animals meet the requirements. Let’s review them, shall we?

A service animal is: “…defined as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. The task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related to the person’s disability.” But it should be noted that this is not limited to dogs.

An emotional support animal does not perform any specific task and does not require training. Here the guidelines become open to interpretation and, possibly, lawsuit. The description of these animals by ADA indicates they are “…animals that provide comfort just by being with a person. Because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. However, some State or local governments have laws that allow people to take emotional support animals into public places. You may check with your State and local government agencies to find out about these laws.” The words “into public places” may be the loophole here.

One other comment may be helpful. Neither service nor emotional support animals require a vest, special harness, or tag on them. Anyone wishing to inquire is limited to asking:

1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?

2. What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

3. Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability.

How do you determine the limits of “public places” for these animals? Does a plane fall under this rubric, or is it a “private place?” What about a food market, restaurant, or hospital? As such, can animals be denied?

Many small dogs and cats (I did see a monkey) are taken on planes with their owners. Oh, the monkey was trained to be a service animal and was being taken to its new owner in another state.

The portion of the law that denies anyone asking for either certification of an emotional support animal or the person’s handicap is where the scammers make hay. Rules under the ADA do not require certification, but some entities offer unneeded certification. Any therapist or physician can prepare a document regarding a person’s need for these animals. How many healthcare professionals would refuse the request?

People will avail themselves of emotional support animals when they don’t have any emotional or physical disability; some get disability placards without any disability. When asked, I knew a physician who said, “Of course, I give a note saying any of my patients needs a disability placard. Why not?”

The reason why not is simple. They are taking parking spaces needed for individuals with actual disabilities; it’s not a convenience but a necessity for them.

I know someone with several serious disabilities who, for years, refused to get a placard because she said others needed it more than she did. Of course, she was wrong, and she did eventually agree to the placard.

Those abusing the accommodations intended for persons with disabilities probably feel no shame in their actions; they should.

The post Self-indulgent Are Scamming the System with “Emotional Support” Animals appeared first on Medika Life.

No matter the cause, it’s clearly an extremely difficult process to adjust to having a physical disability. Learning how to adjust can take quite some time and is not a straightforward path. Everyone copes differently and no two journeys look exactly alike.

If you have a new physical disability and are understandably struggling to cope, it may be helpful to keep a few things in mind as you try to figure out this new world you are in.

Take the time you need

Adjusting to a new disability will take a very long time. There’s no telling how long it may be until it begins to feel like a “new normal” for you or until you begin feeling like “you” again.

It doesn’t happen in a day, a month, or a year. It’s an ongoing process that evolves as you continue to evolve and learn how to live in what may feel like a new body or a body that isn’t yours.

Give yourself the time and space you need to come to terms with all of the major changes that have happened in your life.

Reach out to your closest family and friends for support

This is a very challenging time in your life. You may have a few very close people- your partner, your sibling, your parent, your best friend — who you want to get comfort from in your time of need. Be sure to connect with them for support. Now more than ever is a time to lean on those family members and friends who will be there for you no matter what.

Your closest social network can help you when you need to cry, to laugh, or to just sit in silence together with a supportive companion.

Set boundaries

After a new disability, you may not want to talk to every single well-meaning person who reaches out to you to express how concerned they are for you — and that’s ok.
Permit yourself to not feel like you have to respond to every person right away. They will understand if you need time alone to process your thoughts, feelings, and emotions through this phase. You can connect with them when you feel ready to talk.

Ask questions

You are your best advocate and you know your body best. Ask your doctor, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, personal support worker, nurse, and other health professionals involved in your care any questions you have.

You might have questions about your physical disability diagnosis, what your recovery process is expected to look like, how much recovery you may have in the short term and the long term, what you should prepare for in the future to be as healthy as possible while living with a physical disability, how to best take care of yourself and your new needs, and so on.

Ask a family member or friend to help you think of questions or support you in asking these questions if needed. And, if something doesn’t make sense to you, it’s ok to ask the professional to explain it again or in another way.

Focus on the here and now

Your mind might be racing right now. Will I ever be able to walk again? Will I be able to take care of myself? How will I get into my house/apartment or bathroom? Can I go back to work? Who will help me if I can’t do everything on my own?….

Give yourself some space to slow down. You don’t have to have all the answers right now. You will get more information as time goes on about what to expect and what to plan for.

Right now, try to focus on understanding what has happened to you, getting used to how your body feels and moves, and exploring small, simple goals to start working towards.

Go with the flow

You may have heard this saying before: it’s often easier to go with the flow than to fight against it

It’s common to have times when you have made solid progress only to then have a setback that feels like all the hard work you did has been undone or lost.
Having a mindset where you try to be flexible with and adapt to changes as they occur, as hard as that might be, could help with your adjustment.

There will be “good” and “bad” days

Recognizing that there will be “good” days, where you feel like you are handling things well, and “bad” days, where you feel sad or angry or frustrated, is expected.
Permitting yourself to deal with the ups and downs and being compassionate towards yourself can help you cope.

Think about your favorite activities and interests in a new way
It may be hard to imagine this right now, and it may take some time for you to get to this point, but having a physical disability does not mean that you cannot enjoy activities you used to love. It does mean you may need to consider a different way of doing them.

Do you love sports? Maybe there is a way you can look into adapted sports, like wheelchair basketball, for example. Do you love to write or read but have a limited ability to use your hands? There may be occupational therapy services or assistive technology services that might be able to help you figure out how to use a phone, iPad or tablet, or computer in a way that works best for you.

Think of activities you are interested in and speak with your healthcare team for ideas on how you might be able to make this happen. There’s no need to rush into this though. You may need time before you try something you love in a new way, which can be an adjustment in itself. Again, give yourself the time you need and explore these ideas when you are ready.

Work towards long term goals

It’s good to have goals and dreams for the future. Perhaps you want to be able to eventually walk with a walker or a cane. Your doctor and healthcare team may talk about whether that is a realistic future goal for you given the current research, medical knowledge, and your healthcare team’s past experience with patients with a similar disability diagnosis and health profile to you

Maybe you want to cook for yourself or learn how to direct others to prepare meals just the way you like it if you can’t do it for yourself. Or perhaps you want to go back to work or school and focus on building on your skills and knowledge in a topic you are passionate about but might need some accessibility modifications. The options are endless.

Talk with your healthcare team to see what may be feasible for you and begin thinking about what steps you can take to reach these goals.

Stay hopeful

Even if it seems like you may never be able to do some of the things you want to be able to do, it is always important to not give up on yourself.

Hope is what keeps us going and encourages us to move forward. We may need to somehow learn to accept what our current situation is while we keep aiming to reach our goals and what we want for our future.

We can move along parallel paths where we do what we can right now and continue working towards our dreams. Stay hopeful.

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