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JR Rehab attend the Managing Pain Disorders at CBI Discovery Clinic in Victoria.

left to right: Carelene Kin Mainland, Nicole Kin Nanaimo, Janna OT Mainland, Denny Kin Mainland,Meghan Kin Mainland

New Staff at JR! Admin, KINs, OTs

JR Rehab welcomes:
Office Administrator/Receptionist:

Emanuel Stylianides, Head Office
Emanuel is our new addition to the JR administrative team. Having worked in administration for several years in the UK, she then ventured here to Vancouver in the summer, starting as JR’s Receptionist September 2017. She’s currently studying online Criminal Psychology courses at NCC. In her spare time, she enjoys hosting ‘Meet-Up’ events in the city and growing fresh produce in her urban roof garden.

 

 

Occupational Therapists:

Bashni Morarjee, Fraser Valley

Born, studied and worked in South Africa till Bashni and her family became permanent residents of Canada in 2014. Bashni completed my Occupational Therapy degree and postgraduate business management diploma at the University of Kwazulu Natal in South Africa. Her passion has included working as a community based therapist providing services to both the adult (mental health, physical disabilities and the aged) and pediatric populations. Bashni has also worked in acute care (neurology), rehabilitation programs for clients with SCI and TBIs, community clinics (mental health) and in the insurance industry with rehab and RTW programs.

 

Danita Morin, Nanaimo
Following the completion of her undergraduate degree in Biotechnology and Business Administration, Danita followed her passion to encourage others in achieving their goals through further completing her Master of Occupational Therapy degree at the University of British Columbia. Danita’s clinical interests include brain injury rehabilitation, home, community, and work reintegration, and providing care for geriatric clients. Danita is also especially interested in seating and mobility assessment, for which she has taken additional education.

 

Matthew Habib, Nanaimo
Matthew grew up in Toronto, Ontario and completed his undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Thereafter, he completed his Master’s in Occupational Therapy at McMaster University. Matthew has been part of the team since September of 2017, and in his practice, he strives to enable clients to reach their highest potential in occupations of which they find meaning.

 

 

 

Pablo Chang, Vancouver
Pablo studied Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University for his undergraduate degree, and Queen’s University for his Masters in Occupational Therapy. Pablo’s first area of practice was working to help clients return to their daily activities after have a motor vehicle accident. He has worked closely with clients in an interdisciplinary team to identify and overcome barriers to meaningful engagement in their occupations.

 

 

 

Rhiannon Evans, Vancouver

Rhiannon received her Bachelors of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia. During her undergraduate degree, Rhiannon was involved in varsity athletics and spent time working with children and individuals with intellectual disabilities, spinal cord injuries, and chronic pain. Through these varied experiences she saw the importance of participation in meaningful activities to health and well-being and returned to UBC to earn a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy.

 

 

Tamara Rae, Nanaimo
As an occupational therapy graduate in 1990, Tamara has over 25 years of experience. She started her career working in various hospitals in BC and New Zealand in acute care and long term care, working with orthopedic, medical and neurological conditions. In most recent years she has developed a broad depth of experience in return to work services in areas such as chronic pain, soft tissue, orthopedic, ergonomics and early return to work programs. Tamara enjoys working with a diverse caseload and values engaging clients to reach positive outcomes.

 

 

Winni Chou, Vancouver

Winni completed her Bachelor of Psychology and Master of Occupational Therapy at the University of British Columbia. She joined the JR Team in September 2017 and strives to utilize OT skills of enablement to ethically serve the community in the development of independent, meaningful, and functional living.

 

Kinesiologists:

Alex Li, Vancouver

Alex graduated in 2017 from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor in Kinesiology. He joined the JR Rehab team in September 2017. Alex has gained a lot of experience volunteering as a Rehab Assistant with a diverse mix of individuals, which include people with concussion, people with disabilities, and seniors. He is most passionate about the topic of concussion and continues to expand his knowledge in this area.

 

 

Chelsey Herman, Fraser Valley

Chelsey graduated with a Bachelor degree in Kinesiology from the University of the Fraser Valley in 2016. She joined the JR rehab team in September 2017. During her time as a student, Chelsey gained experience in the field as a physiotherapist assistant, in the athlete medical clinic at her university, and running physical activity sessions with elementary school children diagnosed with FASD. Since graduating in 2016, Chelsey has been working in the Kinesiology field designing and implementing active rehab programs for both the general and athletic population.

 

Max Pecarsky, Vancouver

Max attended Langara College and the University of British Columbia. He has a Bachelors of Kinesiology through UBC and specialized mainly in exercise physiology and athletic training. He joined JR Rehab in August 2017. He aspires to potentially become either an Occupational Therapist or a Physical Therapist. Max believes that physical rehabilitation is not only physical, but mental as well and that motivation and determination are key in order to get a patient back to working strength.

JR Rehab Attends Murphy Battista LLP’s 34th Annual Social

Left to Right: Mike, Kris, Maureen, Sarah, Kevin, Grace.
Missing: Amanda

JR Rehab is Hiring!

Finding your career fit with JR Rehab

JR Rehab is a team of professional contract consultants with a commitment to providing premier quality rehabilitation services as well as providing exceptional support to all of our clients, customers and colleagues.

JR Rehab Services team members include:

As a part of the JR Rehab team you will have the opportunity to work with a diverse mix of clients, enhancing your current skills and developing skills in new areas of practice in a professional, friendly and challenging work environment.

 Values/Vision/Mission

Vision

JR Rehab aspires to be the leading provider of rehabilitation and health services that advance the well-being of our communities.

Mission

To empower our clients to lead healthy and productive lives through personalized health, wellness, and rehabilitation services rooted in our communities.  To provide our business partners and customers with the best personable and results-oriented services each and every day.

Values

  • We believe our clients are resourceful and wholly capable of returning to functional and productive lives.
  • We believe our clients deserve individual rehabilitation and support.
  • We believe that a complete rehabilitation program addresses physical, mental and emotional health.
  • We believe continuing education and training is vital in providing the best rehabilitation services possible.
  • We believe in contributing back to the community that supports our clients.

Career Benefits

Professional Development

We recognize that the field of rehabilitation is constantly evolving and we highly value on-going education for our practitioners as we strive to be a leader in provision of cutting edge services.

  • Provide in-services and educational opportunities in house
  • Support staff attendance at professional workshops, seminars and courses
  • Education bonuses available annually for participation in professional development courses

Clinical and Performance Development

JR Rehab provides mentorship opportunities for therapists to aid in their professional development.

  • One to one meetings to review your caseload therapeutic techniques, work product and practices
  • Team meetings allow therapists with varied experience and background to contribute to team development
  • Lunch and Learn opportunities for new therapists to aske questions and gain perspective from experienced team members

Administrative and Technical support

JR Rehab is proud to provide our staff with the support of a dynamic office team to assist with:

  • Referral management
  • Secure web based file management
  • IT/Clerical assistance
  • Billing assistance
  • Report editing
  • Report distribution

Lifestyle Benefits

  • Flexible work arrangement will allow you to define your own work and lifestyle parameters
  • Young, dynamic team
  • Vibrant and inclusive workplace culture
  • Social and professional engagement opportunities 

 Positions Currently Available with JR Rehab Services

Occupational Therapist in Nanaimo, Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley (more OT info)

  • Case management
  • Community rehabilitation
  • Hospital discharge planning
  • Home assessments
  • Functional capacity assessments
  • Return to work planning
  • Cognitive rehab therapy
  • Functional Capacity Evaluations
  • Cost of future care
  • Medical legal reports

Physiotherapist in Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley (more PT info)

  • Community based assessments
  • Community based treatment

Kinesiologist  in Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley (more Kin info)

  • Active Rehab
  • Community Access
  • Lifeskills training
  • Adapted Physical Activity
  • Cognitive Rehab Therapy
  • Aquatic Therapy

 Contact

Looking for a collaborative and supportive working environment? Find a place on our team! If you would like to know more about a career at JR Rehab Services get in touch

Follow us on Linked In and Facebook

Contact our offices at 604 254 0444 or info@jrrehab.ca

JR Rehab Collabs with CAOT-BC Issue Paper: OT and Re-Assessment

“Occupational therapists have a responsibility to use a systematic approach based on best practice, professional judgement and clinical reasoning in enabling clients
to develop the means and opportunities to identify
and engage in the occupations of life.”

 

JR Rehab recently contributed to the Canadian Association’s publication of an issue paper: Occupational Therapy and Assessment/Re-Assessment. Through these assisted guidelines, insurance companies can gain further insight on how to use OT services effectively in the future. JR hopes to continue collaborating with our fellow colleagues in the community of rehabilitation.

To read more about this paper, full version below.

CLICK HERE: CAOTBC Issue Paper: OT and Assessment/Re-assessment

JR does Walk With Your Doc!

Walk With Your Doc is a volunteer, community-based opportunity for health professionals (Doctors, RN, PT, OT, Kin, etc.) to connect with residents in their community. Getting out and connecting with the community is what JR Rehab is all about. Ask some of our Occupational Therapists, Kinesiologists, and Physiotherapists how they enjoyed their time outdoors!

New Staff at JR Rehab

JR Rehab welcomes 2 new Kinesiologists to our Greater Vancouver team!

Casey Page, B.Kin
Casey graduated with a Bachelor of Kinesiology from the University of British Columbia with a special interest in active rehabilitation and injury prevention. She joined the JR Rehab team in April 2017 and will be primarily covering the Vancouver region. Casey strongly believes in the importance of designing personalized rehab programs concentrated on the client’s specific injuries and goals. She enjoys expanding her practical skills and knowledge by constantly learning new treatment methods and techniques to further benefit her clients. Casey has spent the past two seasons as a volunteer snowboard instructor for individuals with disabilities and thoroughly enjoys helping people overcome barriers to physical activity. In her spare time, Casey can be found outside playing soccer, volleyball, tennis, or on the mountain hiking or snowboarding.


Wilfred Pow
, B.Kin
Wilfred graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Kinesiology in 2016. He joined JR Rehab the following year and has been a member of the team since April 2017. As an avid fitness enthusiast, health from the mind and body are what drives his devotion towards his career, education, and sports. Wilfred has over 3 years of combined experience working with youth in a coaching and instructional capacity. His work with the Canucks Autism Network and Special Olympics Canada has provided him with a strong foundation assisting clients of all ages and abilities. Wilfred believes that an individualized approach to active rehabilitation is the setup for success. He loves making physical activity fun and enjoyable, either with clients, or in his spare time. Wilfred services the Richmond, Vancouver, and Burnaby areas, and is fluent in English and Cantonese. In his spare time, you can find him either cooking, hiking, or finding any new activity to try.

 

Check out our newly updated Staff section for more info!

Medical Life Sciences | In-home Occupational Therapy Reduces Depression Symptoms in Patients with Impaired Vision

Johns Hopkins researchers report that in-home occupational therapy appears to reduce the rate and severity of depression in people at higher risk for the disorder because of seriously impaired vision.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says older adults in the United States are already at an increased risk of depression as their health and social lives change. Vision-impairing diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, contribute to these changes for an estimated 1.6 million Americans.

The new study, described March 8, in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, used measures obtained from the previous Low Vision Depression Prevention Trial in Age-Related Macular Degeneration (VITAL) study to conclude that low-vision patients who improve in their day-to-day functions, such as cooking, reading mail or using a computer, through at-home training with an occupational therapist have less severe symptoms of depression than similar patients who did not train with an occupational therapist.

“Our goal for this study was to see if occupational therapy was a better investment than supportive therapy in preventing depression in low-vision patients,” says Ashley Deemer, O.D., instructor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The study was based on information originally gathered for the VITAL study at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and included data on 188 patients with age-related macular degeneration. The patients’ average age was 84, and 70.2 percent of the patients were women. The patients had an average visual acuity of 20/96, meaning that the average person in this study could see an object 20 feet away, while someone with normal vision could see the same object at 96 feet. All patients also reported borderline depressive symptoms, scoring greater than five on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, a clinical survey used to estimate depression risk. In this survey, a score of zero is an indication that the patient has no depression or is at a low risk, and a score of 20 or higher marks a patient as at risk for severe depression.

After enrollment in the study, all patients visited a low vision rehabilitation optometrist and filled out a questionnaire designed to assess the importance and difficulty of daily activities, such as cooking, driving, pleasure reading and using a computer.

Patients were then divided into two treatment groups — an occupational therapy group and a supportive therapy group. The group of patients receiving occupational therapy met with an occupational therapist for six one-hour sessions in their homes. Utilizing tools like magnifying glasses, electronic devices and computer programs, the occupational therapist helped train patients to find new ways to achieve the tasks patients had ranked as both important and difficult.

“For example, if a patient had difficulty reading his or her mail, the therapist would use a magnification device to train and practice with the patient until he or she could successfully read the mail,” says Deemer.

The supportive therapy group acted as a control group for comparison. These patients met with a social worker for six one-hour sessions of talk therapy, which emphasized personal expression about loss and disability. In essence, the researchers say, this group got attention and empathetic support but not specific occupational therapy directed to improve their ability to function.

Four months after treatment, the researchers followed up with the patients in the study. Before treatment, the occupational therapy group’s average PHQ-9 score was 5.5, and the supportive therapy group’s average score was 5.6, placing both groups at the borderline of having a depressive disorder. After re-administering the questionnaire after treatment, the researchers found that the occupational therapy patient group’s average score decreased to 4.62 and the supportive therapy’s score decreased to 4.54.

At this follow-up, the researchers found that 26 percent of the supportive therapy patients reported that their depression symptoms worsened, while only 12 percent of the occupational therapy patients reported worsening symptoms. In total, these data show that while both forms of therapy decreased depression in patients, the group that received occupational therapy reduced its risk of depression by much more.

Comprehensive low vision rehabilitative services typically incorporate specialized care from an optometrist and other rehabilitation therapists, including occupational therapists. Because the VITAL study was not originally designed to distinguish the differences among these particular low-vision rehabilitation services, Deemer says one limitation of her findings is the researchers were unable to measure visual function improvements from occupational therapy services alone. Rather, the effects on visual function seen here are the result of comprehensive low vision rehabilitative care, including services given by both the optometrist and the occupational therapist.

Deemer says the costs associated with occupational therapy are often covered by Medicare, but such services appear to be underutilized.

“Many caregivers and patients may not realize how prevalent depression is among people with low vision, and our duty as health care providers is to raise awareness of the problem and the availability of help,” says Deemer. “It is good practice not only to refer low vision patients to a mental health expert, but to also suggest low vision rehabilitation and occupational therapy, which could have a huge impact on our patients’ lives.”

CBC News | Mentally Stimulating Brain Games May Delay Dementia Onset

Longevity expert suggests doing something ‘engaging and fun’ to keep the mind sharp

Thomson Reuters Posted: Feb 01, 2017 12:05 PM ET Last Updated: Feb 01, 2017 12:05 PM ET

Older people who engage in mentally stimulating activities later in life may have a lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment than their peers who don’t challenge their minds, a study suggests.

For adults 70 and older without cognitive problems, playing games was associated with a 22 per cent reduced risk of what’s known as new-onset mild cognitive impairment, a condition that can happen before age-related declines in brain function give way to full-blown dementia.

Working on crafts was tied to a 28 per cent lower risk of mild cognitive impairment, computer use was linked to 30 per cent smaller odds and social activities were associated with 23 per cent decreased risk, the study also found.

“Mentally stimulating activities perhaps in combination with known healthy lifestyles such as exercise are simple and inexpensive activities that can potentially protect people against the development of mild cognitive impairment,” said senior study author Dr. Yonas E. Geda, a psychiatry and neurology researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.

To see how different activities might influence the odds of developing impairments, researchers examined data on 1,929 adults age 70 and older who didn’t have any cognitive problems at the outset.

They evaluated participants every 15 months. Half of their subjects stayed in the study for more than four years.

In surveys, participants reported how often they did various activities. Researchers then compared the risk of new-onset mild cognitive impairment based on whether people did activities at least once or twice a week or no more than two or three times a month.

At the start of the study, half of the participants were at least 77 years old.

By the end of the study, 456 people had developed new-onset mild cognitive impairment, according to a report in JAMA Neurology.

Researchers took a closer look at a subset of 512 people who had an increased risk of cognitive decline because they carried a version of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene that is a risk factor for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s dementia.

For carriers of the high-risk APOE gene, only computer use and social activities were associated with a decreased risk of mild cognitive impairment.

The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to test whether or how different activities might directly prevent or delay the onset of cognitive decline, the authors note.

Some previous research has found that repeating familiar activities, even challenging ones, may not necessarily be enough to ward off cognitive decline, said Dr. Denise Park, a longevity researcher at the University of Texas in Dallas who wasn’t involved in the current study.

Playing games or socializing at home may not protect the brain against decline, but devoting several hours a week over several months to learning new activities may be associated with better brain function, Park said by email.

“Our research suggests mentally demanding, novel tasks like quilting or learning photography are worthwhile,” Park added. 

“Learning how to use a computer and many apps” also helped.Her advice to elderly people who want to keep their mind sharp: “Do something that is engaging and fun for you that you want to spend time on.”

Sleep ‘cleans’ the brain of toxins

By James Gallagher  Health and science reporter, BBC News

Brain in a head

The brain uses sleep to wash away the waste toxins built up during a hard day’s thinking, researchers have shown.

The US team believe the “waste removal system” is one of the fundamental reasons for sleep.

Their study, in the journal Science, showed brain cells shrink during sleep to open up the gaps between neurons and allow fluid to wash the brain clean.

They also suggest that failing to clear away some toxic proteins may play a role in brain disorders.

One big question for sleep researchers is why do animals sleep at all when it leaves them vulnerable to predators?

It has been shown to have a big role in the fixing of memories in the brain and learning, but a team at the University of Rochester Medical Centre believe that “housework” may be one of the primary reasons for sleep.

“The brain only has limited energy at its disposal and it appears that it must choose between two different functional states – awake and aware or asleep and cleaning up,” said researcher Dr Maiken Nedergaard.

“You can think of it like having a house party. You can either entertain the guests or clean up the house, but you can’t really do both at the same time.”

Plumbing

Their findings build on last year’s discovery of the brain’s own network of plumbing pipes – known as the glymphatic system – which carry waste material out of the brain.

Scientists, who imaged the brains of mice, showed that the glymphatic system became 10-times more active when the mice were asleep.

Cells in the brain, probably the glial cells which keep nerve cells alive, shrink during sleep. This increases the size of the interstitial space, the gaps between brain tissue, allowing more fluid to be pumped in and wash the toxins away.

Dr Nedergaard said this was a “vital” function for staying alive, but did not appear to be possible while the mind was awake.

She told the BBC: “This is purely speculation, but it looks like the brain is losing a lot of energy when pumping water across the brain and that is probably incompatible with processing information.”

She added that the true significance of the findings would be known only after human studies, but doing similar experiments in an MRI machine would be relatively easy.

Brain

Commenting on the research Dr Neil Stanley, an independent sleep expert, said: “This is a very interesting study that shows sleep is essential downtime to do some housekeeping to flush out neurotoxins.

“There is good data on memory and learning, the psychological reason for sleep. But this is the actual physical and chemical reason for sleep, something is happening which is important.”

Dr Raphaelle Winsky-Sommerer, a lecturer in sleep at Surrey University, said: “It’s not surprising, our whole physiology is changing during sleep.

“The novelty is the role of the interstitial space, but I think it’s an added piece of the puzzle not the whole mechanism.

“The significance is that, yet again, it shows sleep may contribute to the restoration of brain cell function and may have protective effects.”

Many conditions which lead to the loss of brain cells such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease are characterised by the build-up of damaged proteins in the brain.

The researchers suggest that problems with the brain’s cleaning mechanism may contribute to such diseases, but caution more research is needed.

The charity Alzheimer’s Research UK said more research would be needed to see whether damage to the brain’s waste clearance system could lead to diseases like dementia, but the findings offered a “potential new avenue for investigation”.

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