Conference To Play Key Role In Rehabilitation

Media release – February 1, 2007

Major international conference this month will play a key role in improving rehabilitation in people who have suffered injury or serious illness

A major international rehabilitation conference in Rotorua this month will play a key role in helping improve life quality of people who have been badly injured or suffered serious illness.

Conference organiser Duncan Raid said today Accident Compensation (ACC) paid out over $19 million for new and ongoing serious work related injuries in 2006, and over $6.5 million for head injuries in particular.

``One in four New Zealanders live with some form of disability following injury or illness and one in six New Zealanders suffer from arthritis. Hence these issues are large and we perhaps do not even have a real idea of how big the problem is.’’

Mr Reid will be one of many speakers at the major conference in Rotorua on February 16-18.

World experts will outline overseas trends, ACC staff will promote the new rehabilitation strategy and those who have suffered severe injuries will also speak out.

Mr Reid said many leading sports people have made it back to top sport or at least to full health again as a result of intensive rehabilitation.

``Former All Black Graeme Thorne’s son who damaged an artery in his neck in a rugby tackle is still having rehabilitation in Christchurch.

``Another is former Auckland Blues Super 12 player Rudi Wulf who broke his neck diving into a swimming pool but returns to Super 14 rugby this weekend following his rehab.‘’

Mr Reid said the biggest advances have come in challenging the assumptions about people’s expectations around rehabilitation.

People with head injury may continue to make ongoing and important improvement with rehabilitation long after some of the expected time frames.

``There are many well designed rehab and exercise programmes that can improve quality of life. Such programme may be helpful for patients suffering osteoarthritis of the knee and hip and reduce the need for joint replacements, which are costly and are associated with long waiting times for surgery.

``The next major advance is in learning new ways of involving the person in the rehab process, setting goals with the patient that are patient-centred and more focussed than the more process driven goals.

``The conference this month will tackle many of these issues, looking at innovative programmes, how better to engage patients in the rehab process and how to get the funders to be more responsive to the patients’ needs to achieve these goals.’’

With an ageing population and people surviving what until relatively recently would have been fatal neurological injuries, rehabilitation is an increasingly important part of health and social provision, he said.

Other topics to be covered include: the use of everyday technology - such as mobile phones - to help those with brain injuries, the barriers experienced by Maori during stroke recovery and pain management in New Zealand.

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