SNN March 2016

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CON BEN’S BLURB WELCOME TO 2016! WE ARE WELL AND TRULY INTO THE NEW YEAR AND I AM ALWAYS AMAZED AT JUST HOW FAST THE YEAR FLIES BY. THIS ONE IS SHAPING UP TO GO JUST AS FAST, AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER OUTSTANDING YEAR WHERE THE TRUST CONTINUES TO DELIVER OUR WONDERFUL SERVICES AND TO GROW OUR CAPABILITY. IT IS GOING TO BE A BRILLIANT YEAR! After a great 2015, during which the Trust consolidated, we are excited to have a brand-spanking-new website after a long time in the making. Sometimes in the not-forprofit sector, what seems like a simple project can turn into a time-consuming brute-of-a-thing, which takes a lot longer to get across the line than initially thought. Our new website was no different. It is also something we are immensely proud of, so special thanks goes to our General Manager, Hans Wouters, and Bernadette Cassidy, our Library and Design Services Manager, who pulled much of it together. We worked on it in conjunction with Gary Lee of Digital Operative, who ‘gets’ what we do and is just as passionate about the NZ Spinal Trust as we are. So please visit www.nzspinaltrust. org.nz and see for yourself just how outstanding the site is. I also want to acknowledge our departing Spinal Network News Editor, Johnny Bourke, who took on the position in 2014. It was the first time we’d had a dedicated editor and he took the magazine to new heights. Johnny has departed to pursue his research career with our sister organisation, The Burwood Academy of Independent Living, better known as BAIL, where lived-research around spinal and brain injury is converted to results and better rehabilitation outcomes for you, our members and client base. Johnny’s last edition was the December 2015 issue, and we now welcome Peter Thornton, who joins us with a mountain of experience in journalism. We are excited to have Peter on board and look forward to the Spinal Network News evolving further. As always, we embrace your feedback and suggestions so please don’t hesitate to contact us – we welcome it. One exciting piece of work that I have been involved with for a while now is the Spinal Cord Impairment Action Plan 2014-17. This is available to view as a download from our new website if you look under “Resources”, then “ACC and Non-ACC”. This plan is supported by ACC and the Ministry of Health, with the process taking in the vicinity of two years. It is designed to improve life-outcomes for people with a Spinal Cord Impairment (SCI) – be the impairment from an accident or a medical condition. There are eight objectives. To ensure that this piece of work comes to life, there is a Spinal Cord Impairment Action Plan Governance Committee, of which I am a member representing the NZ Spinal Trust, and ultimately, you. There have been positive results to date, with one of the great outcomes being the ‘Destination Policy’: if a person has an accident or a condition resulting in an SCI, he or she is flown directly to one of two specialist spinal hospitals – Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, or Christchurch Hospital in the South Island, where specialist and expert spinal care is provided. Children are flown directly to Starship Hospital in Auckland. This reduces greatly the time-frame until surgery or specialist treatment can be carried out, therefore greatly improving outcomes for people with a new SCI. One particularly exciting aspect of the Action Plan in relation to the NZ Spinal Trust is Objective 8, which is to provide a consistent Peer Support Service throughout New Zealand. We are working closely with our sister organisation in Auckland, TASC (the Association of Spinal Concerns), to ensure that this objective is achieved. With the wonderful support of ACC, this is becoming a reality, with a very real chance that it will reach fruition later this year. Watch this space. In the meantime, I urge you to download the Action Plan and have a read – it is a powerful document. Thanks again to all the people and organisations that support the NZ Spinal Trust. We are looking forward to a productive and successful 2016. Without your support, this would not be possible, so a huge thank you to you all. 4 |
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Page 1 and 2: SNN March 2016 Volume 19 Issue 1 20
Page 3: EDITORIAL THE SPINAL NETWORK NEWS H
Page 7 and 8: The 28 year-old who, in 2014, attem
Page 9 and 10: Brad Smeele - Wakeboarding Achievem
Page 11 and 12: A key consideration was how the sit
Page 13 and 14: NZST UPDATES FUTURE LIBRARY SERVICE
Page 15 and 16: EF Auckland teenager, Muskan Devta,
Page 17 and 18: PAUL FRANKLIN’S WONDERFUL ADVENTU
Page 19 and 20: Do you have any funny stories to sh
Page 21 and 22: NEW ADDITIONS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
Page 23 and 24: Thank you to our FUNDERS & SPONSORS

SNN March 2016

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