Heeken House Ltd

Heeken House Limited

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Phone: 0800 7566400

E-mail: info@heekenhouse.co.uk

News

Naidex 2008

Heeken House will be present at Naidex 2008 on Stand B14 where it will be launching its’ ‘Series 2’ of the Handy Communicator AID™.

The new AID comes in a strong water repellant pouch that will help to keep it safe and clean. The AID is now ‘Made in Germany’ ensuring that quality control is of the highest standard.

Still with 150 stickers, including blank ones that can be made up to suit individual needs, the AID continues to fulfill all of its’ potential in assisting people suffering from a stroke, aphasia, speech, language and learning difficulties to communicate in partnership with family, friends, carers and health care professionals. With the AID it is possible to achieve greater levels of:

· Self Advocacy

· Greater Independence

· Personal Choice

· User Satisfaction

The especially low RRP for a medical device ensures that this quality product is within reach of purses of all sizes.

A complete pack includes 2 communicator bases, a Velcro strap to hang it from a walking frame or chair etc., 150 stickers of words, pictures and blanks as well as a guidance manual for professionals and end users.

A special show offer is sure to be of interest to all visitors to the show.

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The Handy Communicator AID™ - NOW ‘MADE IN GERMANY’

Heeken House are pleased to announce that the Handy Communicator AID™ and its’ German counterpart ‘Der Sprach-Butler’ are now to be ‘Made in Germany’. Originally the product was made in China but due to the company’s firm belief in quality control, it was decided to now assemble the product in Germany.

This also means that turnaround times are much quicker and ensures that the company can now produce smaller quantities in any language—usually within 6-8 weeks. Scott Kenworthy, Managing Director explained: ”We used to have to produce in quantities of 3000 units in order for our Chinese partners to produce for us AND order at least 3 months in advance. This was of course too large a number for countries with smaller populations such as, for example Belgium. Now, having brought assembly back to Europe we can produce in quantities as low as 500 pieces and can usually turn around any language in the space of just 6-8 weeks—a great advantage to both us and our future distributors.”

Rehacare 2007

Once again Heeken House was present at Rehacare in Düsseldorf, Germany where it found great resonance for the low tech Handy Communicator AID™.

The AID has now also been manufactured in German and will shortly be available on the German market direct to the public. Re-branded for Germany as “Der Sprach-Butler” (the speech butler) it was widely accepted that it will be a huge benefit to people in the acute recovery stage of stroke and long term particularly for older people.

Good contacts were made with various German organizations and it was particularly praised by the German equivalent of UK Occupational Therapists.

Firm interest was also shown by distributors in Poland, France and Austria.

Good reasons why the Handy Communicator AID™ should be used as early as possible after a stroke, the following information was found on the iconoclast website:

One of the most devastating after-effects of stroke is impaired communication. A stroke, sometimes called a "brain attack", can steal one’s ability to understand, or to locate words. Fortunately for many patients, doctors have developed therapies that can help recover these communication skills. Below, two stroke experts discuss the most effective communication recovery techniques for stroke victims.

In what manner do stroke victims struggle with language?
DAVID ALEXANDER, MD: Language problems involve having difficulties understanding what a word means or saying a word. The patient may know what they want to say, but simply can’t get their brain to connect that word and they can’t say it, or they may have trouble understanding how sentences are put together. Those I would consider to be language problems. Speech problems have more to do with actual articulation. These are motor deficits. They can’t coordinate their talking as well as they used to. They simply have trouble speaking and their speech is slurred or somehow difficult to understand.

When do these speech and language problems first make themselves apparent after a stroke?
DAVID ALEXANDER, MD: Immediately. They occur right at the onset of the stroke, and patients can look confused or dazed, even before it’s identified as a language problem, or they can have immediate slurred speech, which is more recognizable. But they occur right at the time of the stroke.

When should rehabilitation start?
RICHARD ZOROWITZ, MD: Rehabilitation for speech problems should begin immediately, and the reason for that is because you want to be able to have that patient be able to express their needs and wants and hopefully be able to have them understand what’s going on around them. This actually should occur with speech therapy, but even somewhat before that with nursing, so that the patient can participate in their care as much as possible.

Is speech therapy a given in most hospitals, for newly diagnosed stroke patients?
DAVID ALEXANDER, MD: In our hospital, yes. We have speech therapists who see the patient quite early, not simply for the speech problem, but because speech and language problems often lead to trouble swallowing, and that’s one of the first things we evaluate. Generally, we have the speech therapist see the patients within 24 to 36 hours to help the other clinicians determine whether the patient can take in food or whether there should be intravenous feedings, or even tube feedings, through the nose, for example.

How fast do speech and language problems get better?
RICHARD ZOROWITZ, MD: Like recovery with movement, usually it will happen within the first few months. And like movement recovery, sometimes improvement is slow. It can take months or years even. But usually we’re looking in the first several months after the stroke for the majority of recovery to occur.

If a person has not improved within six months, should they change their expectations, and indeed, should they just learn to live with whatever they have at that point?
DAVID ALEXANDER, MD: I think that people do change their expectations as they recover. At six months people can still make some incremental gains, but it’s not going to have the same accelerated pace as earlier. I think, realistically, people do have to realize that recovery can have limitations.

How long should a person continue to receive language or speech therapy?
RICHARD ZOROWITZ, MD: Speech therapy for inpatients can occur for at least several months. If it is appropriate, therapy can occur on an outpatient basis. Like other therapies, what we also want to do is to try to train them to be able to do various exercises on their own so that they can continue doing things independently once therapy stops, because insurance will not pay for this indefinitely.

Is there evidence that therapy works, or can progress be associated with passing time?
DAVID ALEXANDER, MD: The good thing about stroke in general is that people do recover gradually. The brain does recover to some extent, so most people recover with time. Most professionals believe that acute speech or language therapy can speed up recovery. It’s a hard thing to prove, however, because you have to compare it to the normal recovery that would have occurred anyway just simply with the family members talking to the patient, and the patient trying to do things themselves. It’s difficult to get objective data.

AS SEEN IN THE ‘GERMAN STROKE ASSOCIATION’ MAGAZINE

Translation from the German Text

Last but not least there is a small, clever product from England to marvel at, that will also be available from Spring 2007 in Germany: the >>Sprach-Butler (Handy Communicator AID)<< is made up of 4 hand sized wooden tablets, that are connected with a ribbon.

They fit in any trouser pocket and can be attached somewhere in reach with a Velcro strap. A set includes 2 >>Sprach-Butler (HCA’s)<< with 150 thematically arranged stickers, that can be stuck on the wooden tablets according to need and changed as required.

Through its’ moveable parts, the >>Sprach-Butler (HCA)<< encourages gentle hand exercises and has a positive effect on hand-eye co ordination. By shaking the wooden tablet chain or by lightly knocking it against a hard surface, the user can attract attention to themselves in order to point to the relevant picture or word.

A simple but useful aid to be able to communicate again quickly after a stroke.