Everyone needs a lift now and again, but the newly donated lift at Okanagan Valley College of Massage (OCVM) will impact many lives.
Thanks to the donation by the Scott and Mandrek family, patients in the outreach program at OV now have an additional support tool: a mechanical lift. This lift helps safely and comfortably transfer patients from a wheelchair to the massage table.
“While we have always provided care to patients confined to a wheelchair, this lift allows patients who regularly use a lift at home to bring their transfer equipment and easily hook into the new system, so treatment on a massage table is an option, ” said Terry Francis, clinical director.
“Students are trained in one and two person lift and transfers for patients who have partial or minor impact to motor control. Some of the patients in this outreach are without control or feeling in a large portion of their appendages so the lift allows students and caregivers to perform safe transfers.”
Faculty and students are excited to begin formal training on this equipment so it can be made available for outreach patients in the near future.
“We believe it is vital to give back to our community,” said Roxanne Petruk, executive director of the College. “People suffering from neurological, systemic and orthopedic conditions, as well as people in treatment for illnesses such as cancer, or dealing with grief, often don’t have the same fiscal resources to spend on supportive health care. We can be part of a solution for an improved quality of life. And that’s a really exciting role to have in the community.”
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