advocacy Archives - Beechwood NeuroRehab

Beechwood NeuroRehab Participates in Developing National Position Statement

October 29, 2018

Beechwood NeuroRehab, along with BIAPA staff, participated in developing a National Position Statement titled “Identifying and Responding to Youth with Brain Injuries within the Juvenile Justice System”, published in September 2018 by the National Partnership on Juvenile Services http://npjs.org/

This National Position Statement came out of our Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice work through the PA Department of Health (Beechwood NeuroRehab was a subcontractor), and funded by the Federal Administration on Community Living (ACL).

2018 Brain Injury of Pennsylvania Annual Conference

June 14, 2018

The BIAPA 18th Annual Conference is coming up! June 24-26, 2018 at the Lancaster Marriott

Register now to attend the conference. Online registration is now available.
You may also register using fax or email until Thursday, June 21.

The online registration link is: https://biapa.z2systems.com/eventReg.jsp?event=51

When the account box appears, search using your email address to ensure you are linked to your current record in the database. If your email is not linked to a record, you may create a new record. Once you login, the system will ask you for a password. That will allow you to view your record and registrations.

Join us for the 18th Annual Conference. With 5 keynote presentations, 18 workshops and multiple social events, this conference will be the one to attend. Attendees needing continuing education credits have the opportunity to earn up to 11 CEUs.

For more information or questions, please email Kara at admin@biapa.org

Dr. Drew Nagele Featured in Recent Publications

May 17, 2018

Beechwood NeuroRehab Exective Director Dr. Drew Nagele’s study entitled “A call for implementing preferred practices for brain injury screening in youth to improve transition” was recently featured in NeuroRehabilitation: An Interdisciplinary Journal. The newsletter can be accessed here.

A research study co-authored by Nagele titled “The Under-Identification of Brain Injuries and the Relationship with Juvenile (and Eventually Adult) Criminal Justice” was recently published in the Brain Injury Professional. The outcome is the result of work being done at Beechwood NeuroRehab, in conjunction with the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania, as well as policy work being done by the National Collaborative on Children’s Brain Injury (NCCBI). You can read the full article here.

The Ivan Project: Powering Forward

May 16, 2018

One of Ivan Loesch’s favorite things to do on a nice day is to ride from his residence at Beechwood NeuroRehab into Langhorne Borough. He will often stop to chat with friends along the way as he pops into the Tiger Mart, Luk-Oil gas station, and Dollar General. Thanks to Ivan’s research and ingenuity and help from Woods’ Maintenance Department, those trips into town are now being made in an electric wheelchair that is run on solar-powered batteries.

“I first got the idea from Super Storm Sandy, which was a major influence for this project. We were without power for about a week and I knew from my research that solar power does not go down during weather anomalies,” said Ivan.

Ivan has always been an idea man so once he got the notion in his head to make his wheelchair solar-powered, there was no stopping him. He devoted himself to researching and learning everything he could about solar energy before diving into what is now known as “The Ivan Project”.

After reading numerous articles and guides on solar power, Ivan reached out to Tyler Doan, Mechanical Lead in the Woods’ Maintenance Department, for assistance. Tyler then enlisted the help of other department members, including electrician Frank Britsch and HVAC technician Tony Daniels. Despite the research, preparation and technical expertise of those working on the project, solar energy wasn’t exactly in Frank and Tony’s wheelhouse.

“We hooked everything up and everything was working and we come back the next day and the battery is drained and his wheelchair is not charged,” said Tony, who has worked at Woods for three years. “We thought the manual was really going to tell us everything we needed but it didn’t.”

Though the project required some additional research and ended up taking longer than expected, the group did not give up and the system is now up and running. Ivan has a routine that he follows each day in order to ensure that his arsenal of batteries stay charged so he is able to make his trips into Langhorne Borough and joyride around the Beechwood NeuroRehab grounds. Ivan is very thankful to Frank and Tony for their willingness to participate in his project and bring his vision to life, but he says he’s just getting started with his solar power plans.

“I would like to expand my solar apparatus. It would be great to power a tower at Woods. I know it’s a big undertaking but I think it could be feasible,” said Ivan, who will turn 40 in June and celebrate 20 years at Beechwood in July. “I want to do the tower because I think it could be symbolic, like a monument or a legacy.”

Beechwood NeuroRehab Executive Director, Dr. Drew Nagele, served as the mediator for “The Ivan Project” and set all of the necessary wheels into motion after hearing about the idea from Ivan himself. Nagele even arranged for a video to be shot (coming soon!) to document the process.

“Ivan’s determination to explore and experiment with alternative energies has now paid off,” said Nagele. “I’m extremely proud of Ivan’s accomplishment of creating a solar-powered wheelchair.

As for Frank and Tony, though “The Ivan Project” was frustrating at times, the pair was happy to help Ivan’s dream become a reality.

“I happened to be in Beechwood Manor when he was talking to Drew (Nagele) and I heard him telling people that he loved it and that he would like to do more stuff with (solar

energy),” said Frank. “Anytime you see our individuals and you know they are happy because of something you did, it’s rewarding.”

So how does it work?

The solar panels are on a 45-degree angle in the back of (Ivan’s residence) facing Southwest, where we can get the most sunlight. There are two wires on the back that absorb and transfer the energy into the basement. Once in the basement it goes to a control panel, from the control panel it goes to a battery. The battery absorbs the electricity from the solar panel. From the battery it goes to an inverter. The inverter changes the power from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC), which is then fed into a receptacle that is connected to a wire that goes through the basement up a half-wall that is connected to the other end of an outlet, which is where Ivan plugs his battery in for his wheelchair.

Video version of Powering Ideas: The Ivan Project

Multiple Speaking Engagements for Beechwood Executive Director Dr. Drew Nagele

May 16, 2018

On May 17, Beechwood NeuroRehab Executive Director Dr. Drew Nagele spoke at the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey’s Annual Seminar in Freehold, NJ. Dr. Nagele presented at the morning workshop and spoke about the “Under-Identification of Students with Long Term Disability from Moderate to Severe TBI in Schools”.

Dr. Nagele also presented at Capitol Hill Brain Injury Awareness Day on Tuesday, March 20. The theme of this year’s Capitol Hill Brain Injury Awareness Day was “Looking Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges in Brain Injury” focusing on rehabilitation and community services. Dr. Nagele presented research work in Juvenile Justice conducted by BIA of PA at the Congressional Briefing Panel.

Dr. Nagele spoke at the National Collaborative on Children’s Brain Injury at the North American Brain Injury Society Conference in Houston on March 14. He also presented on the Under-Identification of Students with Long Term Disability from Moderate to Severe TBI in Schools at the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey annual seminar in May.

Dr. Nagele is also presenting at the Federal Interagency Conference on Traumatic Brain Injury in Washington DC in June, 2018, and at the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania’s Annual Conference coming up at the end of June in Lancaster, PA.