Episode Description

In this episode we discuss the benefits and barriers to fitness in people with disabilities, inspired by the article More Than Just a Game: The Public Health Impact of Sport and Physical Activity for People With Disabilities.

Episode Guests

Cheri Blauwet, MD

Cheri Blauwet is an Associate Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School, the Distinguished Chair in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Chief Medical Officer of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. She is an attending sports medicine physician at Mass General Brigham, where she also serves as Founding Director of the Kelley Adaptive Sports Research Institute. Dr. Blauwet is also a former Paralympic athlete in the sport of wheelchair racing, competing for the United States Team in three Paralympic Games (Sydney '00, Athens '04, Beijing '08) and bringing home a total of seven Paralympic medals. She is also a two-time winner of both the Boston and New York City Marathons.

Saul Fisher

On June 10th, 2018, Saul Fisher was about a mile from his home halfway through his 25-mile bike workout when he was hit by a car and his life changed in an instant. He states:

Kathleen Salas, PT, MHA

Kathleen Comfort Salas is a physical therapist with extensive experience working with clients with neurologic impairments. She began blending adaptive sports with her rehabilitation approach 30 years ago. In 2009 she led the expansion of Spaulding Adaptive Sports programs from Boston to the North Shore, where she ran programs until becoming the full time Boston Coordinator of Spaulding Adaptive Sports Centers in 2021. Kathleen promotes the power of sport to enhance rehabilitation and achieve recreation goals, and empowerment for people with disabilities in all areas of their lives.

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Episode Description: In this episode, we talk about aphasia, the Spaulding-MGH Institute of Health Professions ICAP program, and the story of program participant Dana Lanzillo and his wife Jane. Stories are based on the article Outcomes of an interprofessional intensive comprehensive aphasia program’s first five years.

Episode Guests:

Esther Ayuk, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIS is an Instructor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Coordinator and Clinical Supervisor of the Aphasia Center at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. She is a certified brain injury specialist and has worked as a speech-language pathologist at Spaulding Rehabilitation since 2017. Her clinical research is focused on the standardized assessment of language and cognition across the continuum of care and the role of this information in predicting patient outcomes and influencing health-related quality of life.

Randie Black Schaffer, MD, MA is a physiatrist specializing in Stroke Rehabilitation. She founded the first Young Adult Stroke Rehabilitation Program in the country, which has been widely copied regionally and nationally. At Spaulding she started the Young Adult Stroke Service, she directs the SRH Inpatient Stroke Program and serves as Chief of the Division of Stroke and Neurology of the Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of Harvard Medical School.

Lynne Brady Wagner, MA, CCC-SLP, MRMC, HEC-C serves as the Chief Learning and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Chair of the Ethics Advisory Committee and Associate Director of the Spaulding Stroke Wellness Institute at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network. In her 25 years at SRN, she has fulfilled many roles including speech-language pathologist, Director of the Stroke Rehabilitation Program, and Director of the Clinical Scholars Program.

Mary Hildebrand , OTD, OTR/L is an associate professor and Director of the Tabor-Connor Family Occupational Therapy Center for Learning, Participation, and Rehabilitation (OT CLiPR) at the MGH Institute of Health Professions.

Dana Lanzillo and his wife Jane were participants in the the S-IHP’s CAP program (twice!)

Marjorie Nicholas, PhD, CCC-SLP, FASHA is Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the MGH Institute of Health Professions and is a professor specializing in adult neurogenic communication disorders. She founded the MGH Institute's onsite Aphasia Center, which provides diagnostic and treatment services to adults with aphasia and related communication impairments. The Aphasia Center operates on the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA) model. Prior to joining the MGH Institute, she was a speech-language pathologist for over 15 years at the VA Boston Healthcare System. Dr. Nicholas became a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (FASHA) in 2017.

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Outcomes of an interprofessional intensive comprehensive aphasia program’s first five years | Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation

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S-IHP's CAP Intensive Aphasia Program | MGH IHP

In this episode, we discuss the development and use of a tool that measures function after spinal cord injury: the Spinal Cord Injury Functional Index (SCI-FI) / Assistive Technology (AT).

Episode Guests:

David Estrada, JD, represents United Spinal Association as a peer mentor, board member, and former executive director of its Greater Boston chapter as well as a national chapter liaison. He is a program manager at the Spaulding New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Model System and the Exercise for Persons with Disabilities Program. Living with a spinal cord injury and wheelchair user for the past 27 years, he has focused on consumer-led advocacy locally and nationally to promote high quality services for better healthcare management and access to resources for the SCI community. For nearly a decade, Dave was an Athletes with Disabilities Coordinator for the Boston Marathon and continues to promote adaptive sports participation.

Alan Jette, PT, PhD, MPH, FAPTA currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal PTJ and is Professor & Dean emeritus at Boston University. His scholarship focuses on evaluation of rehabilitation outcomes, the measurement of function, and the prevention and treatment of disability. He served as Dean of Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from 1996-2004, was Professor of Health Policy & Management at the Boston University School of Public Health from 2005-2017, and Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences at the MGH Institute of Health Professions from 2012 to 2021. In 2013, Dr. Jette was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, formerly the Institute of Medicine.

Sarah Skeels, BS, MPH has a B.S. in Exercise Physiology from the University of Virginia where she focused in adaptive exercise, and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from George Washington University, where she focused on Health Promotion and Disability. Sarah is a consultant on numerous research projects that involve people with SCI, a member of the Community Advisory Board with the Spaulding New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center; Lecturer in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Tufts University; and Senior Teaching Associate in Behavioral and Social Sciences in the School of Public Health and Brown University. Sarah serves on numerous boards of non-profit adaptive sports organizations and is a Commissioner on the RI Governor’s Commission for People with Disabilities. Sarah is a person with an SCI as a result of a bicycle accident 33 years ago, and is an adaptive snowsports instructor, a former Paralympic-level sailor, an avid outdoorswoman and most importantly, a mom.

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In this episode, we discuss our ability to predict outcomes after moderate to severe brain injury.

Episode Guests:

Dr. Joseph T. Giacino, PhD is a neuropsychologist at Spaulding Rehabilitation and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston Massachusetts. At Spaulding, he directs the Rehabilitation Neuropsychology Service, Disorders of Consciousness Program and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory. At Harvard Medical School, he is a professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and teaches neuroethics at the Center for Bioethics. He is adjunct professor in the Rehabilitation Sciences Doctoral Program at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. His work focuses on developing more precise assessment methods and effective treatment interventions for individuals with severe brain injury. He serves as the director of the Spaulding-Harvard Traumatic Brain Injury Model System.

Nicole Godaire is chief executive officer of the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts (BIA-MA) and has been with BIA-MA since 2005. Nicole’s passion is advocating for the brain injury community, improving access to more programs and services for individuals with brain injury and caregivers in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Nicole’s relationships within the provider community have made it possible for BIA-MA to increase brain injury awareness and close gaps in services across the state.

Tracey Macarty is mother to Will Emery, who lived with a traumatic brain injury until his passing in 2018. Will was an avid car enthusiast, always tinkering with his numerous vehicles. He loved playing drums with his band Arm the Hopeless. Above all, he loved his family and friends and you never walked away without a smile on your face. He guided his mother through the most harrowing time of her life, giving her life purpose. He always made sure he told her, "I love you more." Tracey was a staunch advocate for her son and hopes to continue spreading awareness and compassion for people experiencing traumatic brain injuries.

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Join us for our special 2-part kickoff series inspired by the New England Journal of Medicine article “From Survival to Survivorship – Framing Traumatic Injury as a Chronic Condition.” In this episode, we discuss finding common language in our data.

Episode Guests

David Estrada, JD, represents United Spinal Association as a peer mentor, board member, and former executive director of its Greater Boston chapter as well as a national chapter liaison. He is a program manager at the Spaulding New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Model System and the Exercise for Persons with Disabilities Program. Living with a spinal cord injury and wheelchair user for the past 27 years, he has focused on consumer-led advocacy locally and nationally to promote high quality services for better healthcare management and access to resources for the SCI community. For nearly a decade, Dave was an Athletes with Disabilities Coordinator for the Boston Marathon and continues to promote adaptive sports participation.

Dr. Juan Herrera-Escobar, MD, MPH, is a physician scientist from Colombia with advanced training in trauma outcomes research methodology. Dr. Herrera-Escobar serves as Research Director in Long Term Outcomes in Trauma at Brigham & Women’s Center for Surgery and Public Health. His academic interests are in studying the long-term physical, mental, and social health consequences of traumatic injuries, as well as in the implementation of trauma registries and trauma systems design. His work has led to several publications on the long-term impact of traumatic injuries and the factors associated with poor outcomes, emphasizing the role of patient and socioeconomic factors in recovery. 

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Join us for our special 2-part kickoff series inspired by the New England Journal of Medicine article “From Survival to Survivorship – Framing Traumatic Injury as a Chronic Condition.” In this episode, we discuss coordinated care across the lifespan of those with traumatic injuries. 

Episode Guests: 

Dr. Jeffrey Schneider is the medical director of Trauma and Burn Rehabilitation at Spaulding Rehabilitation and associate professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. He serves as project director of the Boston Harvard Burn Injury Model System, a multi-institutional center grant focused on long-term outcomes in the burn population. His interests also include utilizing large data to explore rehabilitation outcomes and he is the co-Director of the Rehabilitation Outcomes Center at Spaulding.

Diana Tenney is a burn survivor who sustained a burn injury to over 90% of her body 13 years ago. She has completed well over 1000 peer support visits and speaks locally and nationally about her experience as a burn survivor.  Diana currently serves as Co-Director of Knowledge Translation for the Boston-Harvard Burn Injury Model System. She is past-President and Board member of BSONE, the Burn Survivors of New England, Co-Director of the Diana Tenney Burn Research Fund, and a member of the Spaulding Council on Disability Awareness.

Judy Heumann

2-minute introduction to the podcast.