Technology grants give patients 'window on the world'
By SCOTT WHIPPLE, HERALD STAFF
07/15/2008


NEW BRITAIN - Sheila Hogan recalled "an incredible demonstration" she saw two months ago. "One of our patients with Lou Gehrig's Disease only had use of his pupils. But, with the Eye-Gaze system he could screen and identify alphabet letters which would then be translated into auditory sentences."

Thanks to two new charitable foundation grants totaling more than $50,000, patients at the Hospital for Special Care will have access to adaptive communication devices and computer equipment that create new ways to cope with their illnesses.

The hospital applied for the grant eight months ago and faced rigorous competition from similar institutions for the funds.

Hogan, vice president of HSC's charitable foundation, said the hospital "is really 'it'" - the only medically-complex rehabilitation and chronic-disease hospital in the United States serving both adults and children across a full spectrum of care.

A $40,927 grant from the Harold and Rebecca H. Gross Foundation has been awarded to the hospital's Therapeutic Technology Program for Physically and Communicatively Disabled Patients. The funds will go toward adaptive computer hardware, software and voice output communication devices for stroke, spinal cord and brain-injured patients, individuals suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis, among other limiting conditions. In addition, a portion of the funds will pay for a part-time technology aide. Hogan said the new aide will be the computer trouble-shooter.

Bank of America administered the grant funding.

"The bank came for a site visit," Hogan said. "They saw the system, which I think made all the difference in the world. They watched individuals using the equipment; a visual experience brings it home for the funder."

The hospital was also awarded an $11,405 grant from the Ensworth Charitable Foundation for the purchase of 10 notebook computers. The computers will be made available to long-term patients and will be used in conjunction with the adaptive equipment bought with the Gross Foundation grant.

The hardware and software will serve as tools to help patients learn new ways of using technology while coping with serious injury and illness. Individuals with computer and Internet skills can find online support groups, explore research related to their conditions, stay in touch with family and friends, keep up with work and even do homework.

"The awarding of these grants [means] we can make these vital services available to all of our patients, regardless of their health care coverage or financial status," said David Crandall, Hospital for Special Care's president and CEO. "In effect, these funding agencies have given some of our most challenged patients a window to the world."

Crandall said the hospital is extremely grateful to both charitable foundations for their generosity in awarding these grants.

"Many of our patients are unable to speak," Crandall explained. "The use of computers and specialized software with voice output allows them to connect with the world around them."

Scott Whipple can be reached at swhipple@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601, ext. 319.

http://www.newbritainherald.com:80/s...id=10109&rfi=6