July 10, 2019 by Angela

Connecting with Furry Friends that Help People See the World

Schurig Center’s latest Community Integration group outing happened in May with a visit to Guide Dogs for the Blind, a leading guide dog school serving people who are blind or visually impaired.

The Guide Dogs team warmly welcomed a group of Schurig Center participants, volunteers, and staff for a walking tour of the San Rafael campus to learn all about their guide dog programs, from birth and puppy socialization to training and pairing with prospective clients.

After the tour, the Schurig group wrapped up the day with lunch and an extra special art project to reflect on what they had learned during the visit – each person created and shared an original art piece depicting their very own dream guide dog.

Community Integration… Why It Matters

Community integration outings like this one are important to the recovery process of our participants. Isolation is often one of the greatest challenges facing people living with the effects of a brain injury. These group outings help keep people active and connected by providing an opportunity for participants to:

Re-engage with the community
Build confidence through personal interactions with new people
Practice communication and social skills
Support one another through cooperation and peer-to-peer support
Increase their sense of independence
Participate and not just be an observer
Access experiences and activities that may not otherwise be available to them

The outings are also a wonderful way for members of the community-at-large to learn more about brain injury as well as to meet and get to know people living with the effects of a brain injury as unique, valuable individuals, not just as their disability.

Our community is truly stronger when everyone is included!

Thank you!

Big thanks to Keith Rosenthal and the rest of the awesome team at Guide Dogs for their time and enthusiasm to make this memorable “warm and fuzzy” day possible for Schurig’s group.

No one should have to go through brain injury alone.
Your generosity helps ensure no one does.

Schurig Center’s innovative programs are powered by the giving of foundations and individual donors, like you. We hope you’ll join us in making critically-needed services, like the Community Integration Program, possible by donating today. Your gift ensures everyone in our community has the opportunity to live happily, meaningfully, and fully. Thank you!

October 30, 2018 by Angela

Occupational Therapy at Schurig Center – A Rehabilitation Tool Changing Lives

Occupational Therapy (OT) is an effective rehabilitation therapy for survivors of brain injury, concussion or stroke that is offered at Schurig Center in group classes and in individual sessions. We realize that many survivors and their families are unaware of what OT is and the benefits it offers. Let’s learn more about OT, who can benefit from it, and the services offered at Schurig Center.

Maggie Smida, OTR-L is Schurig Center’s Occupational Therapist. Maggie received her Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy at San Jose State University and is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association. She came to us from UCSF Medical Center where she gained valuable experience in acute care setting. Maggie has created tailored OT protocols specific to brain injury rehabilitation for survivors who are no longer receiving insurance covered OT and who benefit from continued rehabilitation.

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapy (OT) is one of three main rehabilitation therapies: Physical, Speech, and Occupational. The therapy name can be misleading since the purpose is not to help the client get back to work (though some OT’s can do that!). OT’s purpose is to maximize independent living and facilitate a productive fulfilling lifestyle. It’s called “occupational” therapy because the word “occupation” refers to any task a person performs which “occupies” their time. These can be fun hobbies or necessary activities for daily living.

The scope of practice is quite broad! OT’s are trained to address basic skills, such as brushing teeth or getting dressed (i.e. after stroke, living with neurodegenerative disease, etc.) all the way to managing a checkbook and supporting socializing with others. However, most OT’s end up specializing in a specific practice area.

Maggie’s specialization here at Schurig Center is considered non-traditional OT. She focuses on training people living with brain injury to use new “lifestyle systems” that will help them live fuller, more satisfying lives. These systems are devised to support management of daily routine and schedule, help organize personal business and household management tasks, sort out priorities, and facilitate participation in meaningful activities. Typically, these are areas not addressed during traditional rehabilitation stays.

Who could benefit from Occupational Therapy?

A joke in OT training school is that “everyone can benefit from a little OT.” However, it is mostly directed toward anyone who is having difficulty participating in activities they need or want to do because of injury, disease, or disability. An OT’s focus is always to support greater independence. Sometimes the way OT facilitates the accomplishment of a client’s goal for independence is through rehabilitative steps. Other times, it is by teaching adaptive strategies, work arounds, or a different way to complete an activity.

What do you work on in an Occupational Therapy session?

That very much depends on a client’s goal. Typically, OT sessions start with the OT learning about what activities a client wants to get better at doing. Then they determine his or her barriers to participating in or completing the activity. Finally, a plan is created that includes education and training for the client. Each session we work towards the goal.

What is CogSmart?

CogSmart is a 10-week compensatory cognitive training class for people with post concussive symptoms and/or mild TBI. The curriculum was developed by a team in neuro-rehabilitation at the San Diego VA. The course teaches lifestyle management, trains students in coping strategies, and introduces external aids and mental strategies all designed to support cognition function. Here at Schurig Center, Maggie adapted the curriculum to benefit the specific needs of our clients living with symptoms of a concussion.

As the facilitator, what is Maggie’s favorite thing about CogSMART?

Maggie shared that she really enjoys teaching in a small group setting, and she loves the practicality of the course content. Students regularly share what strategies have worked or not worked for them, their own ideas, and complete in class exercises in pairs. It is great to see how the support of those who understand each other can make a difference in the human condition. The peer support seems to have such a positive impact on motivation and facing the challenge of a brain injury with resilience.

Do you think you would benefit from Occupational Therapy?

Schurig Center offers one-on-one Occupational Therapy sessions as well as CogSMART 1 and CogSMART 2 classes based on Dr. Elizabeth Twamley’s protocol from UC San Diego.

For more information and to enroll, contact Schurig Center’s Resource Specialist at resources@schurigcenter.org or (415) 461-6771 ext 100.

October 29, 2018 by Angela

Your gift to Schurig Center helps address a “public health crisis”

Every day there seems to be a new feature story about concussion in the media. This is important news because concussions, a type of traumatic brain injury, happen frequently and can have lasting effects. Despite often being associated with professional and youth sports, a concussion can happen to anyone at any age from a blow or jolt to the head. Causes include falls, motor vehicle and recreation accidents, whiplash, and even seemingly minor bumps to the head, like bumping into a cabinet door.

Concussion has become an important area of research to improve understanding of its short and long-term side effects and to establish effective treatment protocols.

In a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, renowned neurosurgeon and UCSF Professor, Dr. Geoffrey Manley, shared his study findings that too many concussion patients do not receive follow-up care even when they experience ongoing post-concussive symptoms.

Many health care professionals believe concussion patients don’t need or cannot benefit from subsequent visits and treatment. Dr. Manley’s study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, found the opposite to be true. “This is a public health crisis that is being overlooked,” Manley said in an interview.

In fact, half of concussion patients are discharged without being warned about possible follow-up symptoms, red flags and dangers. Only 40% of the patients in Manley’s study saw a doctor or other medical provider within three months of being injured.

Dr. Manley drew parallels between traumatic brain injuries and other diseases, noting that it is important to think of a head injury as an ongoing condition rather than an isolated event.

“If you have a heart attack, you get great care,” he said. “A doctor will follow up with you. With traumatic head injuries, we have a whole bunch of people out there that when we looked at those that aren’t being seen, they needed to be seen. We have got to do a better job.”

You help people not only survive, but thrive!

As a Schurig Center supporter, you play a critical role in filling the gaps in follow-up care for people living with the effects of a concussion. You provide therapeutic and support services designed to help people improve their abilities and transition from the hospital to community living.

Your generosity helps hundreds of people each year achieve their best quality of life by providing:

A restorative community
That provides a vitally important bridge between medical intervention and survivor independence.

Customized recovery plans that offer survivors in crisis a ray of hope.
When doctors don’t have time to recommend therapists and insurance won’t pay for transitional services, you give them a place to turn.

Brain injury expertise and education
That is helping to change the future of brain injury recovery.

It’s not enough to save a life.
Everyone deserves to have a life.

Thanks to you, survivors and their families have a place to turn to get the support they need to build meaningful lives after a brain injury, from an accident, concussion or stroke. THANK YOU!