Hanger Inc recently pledged an educational grant to the Amputee Coalition in an effort to support the Manassas, Va-based organization’s “Improving the Well-Being of People with Limb Loss—Phase II” program, which seeks to provide prosthetists the tools they require to assess and address patients’ emotional needs.
Kendra Calhoun, president, CEO, Amputee Coalition, emphasizes that thanks to Hanger’s $100,000 grant, the Coalition is able to move into Phase II of the Well-Being Initiative. Calhoun adds that the Phase II of “Improving the Well-Being of People with Limb Loss,” will also include Hanger Clinics in the dissemination of the program and in the Phase II study.
“An efficacy study will evaluate the impact of the program on patient outcomes and the providers’ confidence in assisting patients with psychosocial adaptation. These data will provide the basis for pursuit of federal funding for a large, multi-site clinical trial,” Calhoun explains.
The Coalition notes that while many amputees regard their prosthetist as an individual with whom they can discuss their emotional well-being, many prosthetists lack the training and experience to effectively assist patients who are experiencing emotional distress. In response, Calhoun reports that the Coalition has contracted with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as a research partner in order to address this need by developing an assessment tool and resource brochure for prosthetists so they can address their patients’ emotional needs.
Vinit Asar, president, CEO, Hanger, adds that Hanger applauds “the Amputee Coalition and Johns Hopkins for establishing this important program. When presented the opportunity to get involved, we saw considerable alignment in Hanger’s focus on empowering human potential with the program’s mission to improve quality of life for people overcoming limb loss. Our support of this ‘Improving the Well-Being’ program is one of the many collaborative venues we enjoy with the Amputee Coalition,” Asar says.
An Amputee Coalition news release reports that the Phase I of the “Improving the Well-Being of People with Limb Loss,” program was launched in 2011. The program reportedly included the development of preliminary program materials and the implementation of pilot and feasibility studies. The results yielding from these studies indicate that both prosthetists and patients found the program materials helpful in discussing issues linked to emotional well-being. According to the study, the results also demonstrate the ease with which the program can be implemented into the existing patient flow in prosthetic practices, supporting its broad dissemination and further data collection.
For more information visit www.amputee-coalition.org.
[Source(s): Amputee Coalition, Hanger Inc]
