At any moment, life can change in the blink of an eye. For many of us, we don't anticipate the challenges that might come from a sudden health crisis, whether it's a stroke, an accident, or a debilitating condition. But the road to recovery can be long and difficult when it happens. 

Thanks to your generous contributions from CAN GIVE DAY 2023, as well as our partners and other donors, CHF was able to fund the upper limb robotics rehabilitation suite. 

We had the opportunity to speak with Canberra Health Service's Occupational Therapist, Josh Commons, and his patient, Paul Mitchell, to learn more about the incredible impact the Robotics Rehabilitation Program has. 

The Robotics Rehabilitation Program is designed to enhance the recovery process for patients by integrating advanced robotic technologies with a software that enables easy progress tracking through interactive and motivating games that precisely record, measure and track how patients perform during their sessions. These technologies allow healthcare teams to provide more precise, consistent, and effective therapy, significantly improving patient outcomes. 

Josh shares his excitement about the new technology, "It's so exciting from my perspective to be able to use a very futuristic device here in a public health setting, which is fantastic. It gives a lot of hope to patients who have had paralysis of one side of the body and are grieving a loss of function. When we get them into this device, and they can see their hand moving again, it really lights a fire in them and helps them participate much more than conventional therapy would." 

Being a pioneer of this technological advancement, Josh adds, "There's a real attraction towards using robots to help us. We can see that there is going to be future sustainability of this model moving forward, which is fantastic...it's opening up some great communication pathways within Australia and with other hospital providers that use the same device...I think this is very much the way of the future." 

Paul attributes a lot of his progress to the help of upper limb robotics. "It makes rehab much more tolerable, and you do look forward to doing it... you feel more interactive and you feel like it's more positive...it's more of a challenge because you can see what results you have. So next time you're trying to beat your personal best, and that makes it more interesting. I feel that you try harder." 

Josh further explains the benefits of this style of rehabilitation, "We're finding it's a really great medium to engage with our clients during therapy as well. Like Paul has said, we've seen those small little 1% gains because of the specific measuring apparatus of this device. It's hope for him every time he comes back...and for people like Paul, seeing those 1% gains is what keeps him coming back." 

Reflecting on the community support that made the upper limb robotics possible at the University of Canberra Hospital, Paul says, "I am very grateful: it's helping me get my life back together." 

Your donations have made a tangible difference in the lives of patients like Paul and have helped provide cutting-edge technology. Thank you for being a vital part of this transformative journey.