In the last issue of the Journal, we featured the Annual Awards of the Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals (ASCIP), which recognized select members of ASCIP for their contributions to improving outcomes for individuals with spinal cord injury or dysfunction.1 In this issue, we highlight the late-breaking awards announced at ASCIP’s Annual Educational Conference and Expo in September in Nashville.
From more than 100 poster abstracts, six abstracts were selected for special recognition. Blue ribbons marked the winning posters, which convey the spectrum of professionals in spinal cord injury, and their dedication to helping individuals live long and healthy lives with spinal cord injury. The summary below highlights these thought-provoking projects in a variety of areas – minimizing secondary medical complications, facilitating preventive care, promoting fitness, applying new technology, and managing cases involving workmen’s compensation insurance.
The choice for Best Empirical Research Poster was “Peak interface pressures on the new “Skin Safe” spine board” by Gerald Korty and colleagues at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. This team reported that in healthy volunteers, the “Skin Safe” immobilization spine board reduced peak pressures at the head, scapulothoracic, sacroiliac and heel regions, which may help minimize this risk factor for skin breakdown in individuals with spinal cord injury.
The ASCIP Best Clinical Practice Poster was “Benefits of ‘Hospital in Home’ in spinal cord injury setting” by Mirian Onyebue from the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida. This alternate model of care resulted in lowered costs of care, improved inpatient bed utilization, and high patient satisfaction. The ASCIP Diversity Poster Award went to Katie Powell and associates from the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for “Maximizing veteran quality of life through 3D design and printing”. They illustrated the utility of 3D design and printing for creating custom adaptive utensils and wheelchair-mounted cup holders for veterans with spinal cord injury.
The Adcock Best Clinical Practice Award recognized Remi Ojumu at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for “Providing acute rehabilitation to persons with SCI and Workers’ Compensation insurance”. This poster outlined a more structured way of managing workers’ compensation cases, anchored by team that includes a workers’ compensation nurse and case manager and aimed at providing patients and families with greater opportunities to obtain expert resources and care.
The American Paraplegia Society’s Best Resident/Trainee Poster, “Swimming and cardiovascular fitness in SCI: A 6 – week exercise training program”, was presented by Benjamin Abramoff from the University of Pennsylvania and his colleagues in Chicago, Illinois. The team used multiple physiological, psychological and metabolic outcomes to test the impact of a 6-week swimming program on fitness. While the program was feasible, health benefits were not apparent in the five participants, suggesting that the exercise intensity may need to be increased.
The Therapy Leadership Council’s Best Trainee Poster was “Feasibility of neural stimulation to facilitate assisted transfers after paralysis” by Brooke Odle and associates from Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio. They determined that in two volunteers with tetraplegia, neural stimulation via neuroprostheses facilitated transfers by reducing perceived caregiver effort and increasing patient-reported comfort and safety.
Visit the Journal’s site on Taylor & Francis Online to read more about the winners, and browse all of this year’s conference abstracts – posters and presentations.2,3
References
- 1.ASCIP’s academy awards 2019: live from Nashville, Tennessee. J Spinal Cord Med. 2019;42(5):543–544. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2019.1644873 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.ASCIP 2019 educational conference & expo September 1–4, 2019 Omni Hotel, Nashville, TN, USA (presentation abstracts). J Spinal Cord. 2019;42(5):648–746. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.ASCIP 2019 educational conference & expo September 1–4, 2019 Omni Hotel, Nashville, TN, USA (poster abstracts). J Spinal Cord. 2019;42(5):747–800. doi: 10.1080/10790268.2019.1644872 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]