F R O M T H E N R R TS O F F ICE
COVID-25??
Written by: GERRY DICKERSON, ATP, CRTS®
COVID-25 is similar, in some ways, to the “Freshman 20,” the 20 pounds gained by many during their freshman year at college. We started using the term COVID-25, in the clinics I work at, for the weight gain many consumers, ATPs, and clinicians have experienced during the past year. As clinics have slowly begun to open, some consumers have had significant weight gain … enough to make the seating and mobility intervention no longer appropriate. COVID-25 has also come to describe a myriad of comorbidities. Depression, anxiety, loneliness, apprehension, grief and functional loss. For some consumers, the visit to a clinic is the first human interaction with anyone outside of their PCAs. Many of these consumers have not even seen their family, their children or grandchildren in a year. The uneasiness of coming to clinic is soon replaced by active conversation that is sometimes hard to corral.
WHAT STARTED OUT AS A POTENTIAL CATASTROPHE, ENDS UP AN INCREDIBLE SUCCESS. I DO NOT THINK WE GIVE OURSELVES ENOUGH CREDIT FOR OUR ABILITIES IN PROBLEM- SOLVING AND IN GETTING THE JOB DONE.
Weight gain and functional loss are the most impactful to the provision of the seating and mobility interventions. Fortunately, most Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) has enough flexibility that we can make the necessary changes to ensure a proper fit right in clinic. Except when we cannot. The incredible skill, caring and MacGyver abilities of those of us involved in CRT, come into play and magic happens.
What started out as a potential catastrophe, ends up an incredible success. I do not think we give ourselves enough credit for our abilities in problem-solving and in getting the job done. Most funding sources certainly do not give us any credit for our abilities. After all, it is just a wheelchair, right? It is just a wheelchair until you need the intervention yourself. It seems only then do people outside our very small community realize the value of CRT and the skill behind its application. I do not know how we change the perception, but it’s important that we do. We appear to be moving closer to normalcy. The vaccine efforts are changing the landscape by the hour. While it may be difficult to navigate appointment scheduling, the very important “herd immunity” seems to be within reach. With closer to normal in mind, I went back in the CRT time machine to pick out another quote from the past. Here it is: “You’re fed up, your consumers are fed up, the case manager is under the gun, our state and federal legislators want budget cuts — and seem to believe that rehabilitation technology is the place to find them.” The answer is below. It is very, very funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same. I hope you, your family and all of those you care for, remain safe and healthy.
CONTACT THE AUTHOR
Gerry may be reached at GDCRTS@GMAIL.COM
Gerry Dickerson, ATP, CRTS® is a 40-plus year veteran of the DME and CRT Industry. Dickerson, president of NRRTS, works for National Seating & Mobility in Plainview, New York. Dickerson is the recipient of the NRRTS Simon Margolis fellow award and is also a RESNA fellow. He has presented nationally at the RESNA conference, ISS and the National CRT conference and is a past board member of NCART.
NRRTS News, Summer 1995 A: Simon Margolis, as president of NRRTS
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DIRECTIONS 2021.2
