Jane Horsewell and Frans Penninx will be attending the ASIA/ISCoS meeting in Washington DC to promote the formation of a global SCI consumer network. In addition to meetings with potential sponsors and other interested parties, Jane and Frans are holding a meeting on Tuesday, 7 June to discuss the network with representatives from consumer organisations and SCI professionals. See the invitation... ...

The Congress and Assembly of Delegates 2011 took place last week in De Rijp, the Netherlands and was hosted by the Dutch organisation Dwarslaesie Organisatie Nederland. The Congress was held at the Hotel De Rijper Eilanden, north of Amsterdam, which provided an ideal and accessible setting for the meeting of around 90 participants. Considering “Quality” ... ESCIF was pleased ...

This was the unanimous conclusion of the delegates at the ESCIF Congress 2010 following a panel debate and discussion on the current state of research into functional recovery following SCI. It was felt that many private clinics offering “unproven therapies” are simply preying on the desperation of people with SCI, especially those who are newly-injured or newly-diagnosed. A working ...

ESCIF working group on centralisation of treatment, rehabilitation and life-long care of persons with spinal cord injuries finished their report a while ago. The report was presented at the ESCIF Congress 2010 and after that it was sent to various experts for review and comment. It is now ready to be published and to be used in different countries to support centralisation of SCI care. The report ...

We are delighted to announce that we have received over 70 registrations from 22 countries for the ESCIF Congress in De Rijp! Although the deadline for “early-bird” registrations was 1 March 2011 – it is still possible to participate. If you are interested in finding out more about the congress and the programme this year, please follow the link under “ Welcome ...

The Minister of Health and Social Services in Finland, Paula Risikko, has confirmed that the future treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up care of people with SCI will be centralised in three units. The chairman of the Finnish SCI consumer organisation, Jukka Kumpuvuori, commented that the new organisation will, at first, only apply to persons with traumatic spinal cord injuries but added “still ...

In 2010 the Romanian Society for Neurorehabilitation (a member of the World Federation for Neurorehabilitation) and the Romanian Spinal Cord Society, both co-founded and headed by Professor Gelu Onose, were awarded the Excellency Diploma by the Romanian Medical Association (RMA). The RMA integrates the majority of Romanian medical scientific and professional societies. The Excellency Diploma was ...

Our colleagues in Finland have been working hard to persuade the Minister for Health and Social Affairs to establish a centralised system for SCI treatment, rehabilitation and life-long care. Inspired by the ESCIF policy statement and the report on centralisation presented in Lobbach, and supported by SCI experts from other parts of Scandinavia, the Finnish SCI consumer organisation Akson Ry seems ...

Consumer workshop a huge success

At the International Spinal Cord Society’s annual scientific meeting in New Delhi, Coloplast sponsored a workshop for SCI consumers. Surprisingly, not a single Coloplast product was mentioned! ESCIF’s President, Jane Horsewell, recounts: “Shortly after the ISCoS 2010 meeting in Florence, I wrote to Coloplast and suggested that the company should “think ...

The 6th ESCIF Congress and Assembly of Delegates will take place in De Rijp, in the Netherlands, from 18 to 20 May 2011. The theme of the congress is ”Proven” Quality in SCI rehabilitation. Our hosts, Dwarslaesie Organisatie Nederland, have planned a very exciting programme with speakers from all over Europe and even from US. For the first time ever, the congress has its own website! ...