|
A variety of Rhode Island healthcare professionals gathered with local politicians and philanthropists on the steps of the state's imposing State House to mark the launch of a new statewide initiative. In collaboration with Oncology Rehab Partners (ORP) and supported in part by the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, the initiative aims to deliver quality rehabilitation services to cancer survivors-whether they are in remission, living with cancer or cured.
This endeavor is the brain child of Julie Silver, M.D., a physiatrist and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and ORP co-founder Diane Stokes, MBA. Following treatment for breast cancer nearly a decade ago, Dr. Silver found that her level of function had decreased dramatically and that she felt sicker than she ever had before. Due to her training in rehabilitation medicine, she was able to rehab herself so she could return to life, work and her family. Through her experience as a patient, she discovered that there is a gap in care for cancer survivors that must be addressed.
ORP's STAR (Survivorship Training and Rehab) products provide facilities and individual clinicians with tools and systematic, proven programs to deliver excellent oncology rehabilitation care. Hospitals, physical therapy practices and individuals throughout the state of Rhode Island are in the process of, or already have, obtained the STAR certification. The goal is to provide access to reimbursable rehabilitation services post-cancer to residents of Rhode Island by the beginning of 2012. Please click on the ADVANCE video to hear testimony from various individuals involved in this statewide initiative. For more on ORP's STAR, please read "Cancer Crusade" in the October 17, 2011 issue of ADVANCE.
|