April/May 2000

Long-Term Rehab News

Advertising Blitz Supports Medicare Drug Coverage

A coalition of almost 50 national organizations and thousands of individuals recently launched a campaign to support Medicare reform that would expand prescription drug coverage for seniors and the disabled. Citizens for Better Medicare are urging citizens to ask members of Congress to support drug reform endorsed by a majority of the congressional national bipartisan Medicare commission. Senators John Breaux (D-La), Bill Frist (R-Tenn), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb), and Bob Kerrey (D-Neb) introduced legislation last year building on the majority’s work.

Through print ads in major newspapers and television and radio ads throughout the country, the coalition hopes to increase the legislation’s support. “We want to see to it that those in need get prescription drug coverage,” says Tim Ryan, executive director for Citizens for Better Medicare. “We also want to make sure that those seniors who have private coverage can keep it.”

New Avenues for Wheelchair Evolution

In a quest last year to spur technological advances in wheelchairs, The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology Transfer (T2RERC) in Buffalo, NY, collected proposals from a wide variety of sources. Federal laboratories, research universities, and manufacturers submitted ideas in response to six problem statements created by T2RERC in cooperation with the RERC on Wheeled Mobility (WM-RERC). The six problem sets were: 1) charging systems; 2) battery and monitoring systems; 3) geared hubs for manual wheelchairs; 4) tires; 5) motors; and 6) transmissions. A complete list of problem statements can be viewed on the Internet at www.rti.org/technology/wheelchairs. So far, T2RERC has received the following technology proposals:

• Battery monitoring and battery chargers

• Fabrication of prototypes of lever- driven, hydraulic-powered, manual wheelchairs

• High-efficiency, direct-drive wheel motors for enhanced efficiency and performance

• Intelligent control of wheelchairs for enhanced efficiency and performance

• Battery, charger, and monitor problems

• Lever-driven geared hubs

• Permanent magnet direct current (PMDC) machine with integral reconfigurable winding control

• Rubber compound (addressing the tire problem statement)

• Smart battery monitor

• Universal battery charger/analyzer

T2RERC and WM-RERC will screen these technology proposals and develop commercialization packages for manufacturers. The RERCs and the Wheeled Mobility Project are funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the US Department of Education.

Opportunities for the Disabled

Adaptive technology and social security reforms are paving the way for increased job opportunities for the disabled. “Starting in the year 2000, if you have a disabling condition and you want to work, you will,” says Janet D. Fiore, CEO of The Sierra Group Inc, a consulting company in King of Prussia, Pa. According to the National Organization on Disability, only 22% of Americans with disabling conditions are working today. Fiore believes at least five factors will help turn these statistics around:

• In a tight job market, businesses are increasingly willing to make accommodations for qualified, disabled individuals;

• Workplace practices/devices such as voice recognition, telecommuting, and the virtual office are generally more accepted;

• Accommodations are simple and cost-effective;

• Perceptions are changing and people are being treated equally; and

• Recent social security reforms allow disabled people to keep their social security medical benefits while still working.

Obituary

Bill Highsmith, production manager at Whitmyer Biomechanix Inc, Tallahassee, Fla, has died at the age of 51. For the past 6 years, Highsmith helped guide the company toward international product distribution. With a bright smile and engaging personality, he made friends all over the world. Highsmith served on the RESNA Exhibitor Advisory Council and was a Friend of National Registry of Rehab Technology Suppliers member. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia, and their 13-year-old son, Josh.

TBI Hastens Alzheimer’s Onset

A recent study by the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn, found evidence that Alzheimer’s disease begins much earlier in people who previously suffered a head injury. Researchers looked for the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in medical records of more than 1,280 nearby residents who had suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI) between 1935 and 1984, and who were at least 40 years old at last follow-up. They compared their results with a group of 689 community members diagnoseded with Alzheimer’s disease, but with no history of head trauma. The study was published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

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