From The Waverley Leader
Karen Roberts will use a prestigious scholarship to travel overseas
and investigate the latest options for people who have lost an upper
limb.
The Hughesdale occupational therapist will spend time in
the US, Scotland and Sweden in October to study current surgical and
rehabilitation services for upper-limb amputees.
Ms Roberts, the
recipient of one of this year's Churchill Fellowships, said she decided
to apply for the trip to further her knowledge on amputee
rehabilitation. The 37-year-old works with upper-limb amputees at the
Caulfield General Medical Centre and said she had a particular interest
in how her patients settled back into their day-to-day lives after
leaving hospital.
"Our hands are really important for everything
we need to do each day and when someone loses a hand it has a huge
number of implications for what people are able and not able to do," Ms
Roberts said.
"The key thing I'm hoping to gain from my trip is to bring back ideas we can implement into the work we're doing here."
Ms
Roberts will spend seven weeks overseas visiting hospitals and
attending seminars on prosthetics and how patients are taught to use
them.
She said one of the highlights of her trip will be viewing
the iLimb -- a mechanical hand developed in Scotland that looks and
operates almost identically to a normal hand.
MS KAREN ROBERTS
The
Jack Brockhoff Foundation Churchill Fellowship to study current
advances in rehabilitation services for upper limb amputees - USA,
U.K., Sweden
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