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CIR Brings Prosthetic Services to Developing Nations
By Mary Stanton, Elise Moylan, and Laura Frankel
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Photo courtesy of Center for International Rehabilitation |
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The Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR)
is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization committed to assisting
landmine survivors and people with disabilities worldwide in
achieving their full potential. Through innovative engineering
projects, capacity-building education programs, interactive online
tools, and disability rights advocacy, the CIR reaches out to
individuals and communities across the Americas, Europe, and
Asia.
The CIR is an outgrowth of Physicians Against Land Mines (PALM),
a nongovernmental organization (NGO) devoted to ending the death,
dismemberment, and disability caused by landmines. In 1998, PALM
opened the CIR and expanded its activities in order to have a
greater impact on the lives of people with disabilities around the
globe.
Engineering for Developing Nations
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) was the
first program implemented at the CIR and remains a core initiative.
Through the RERC, the CIR develops technologies to improve the
quality and accessibility of care for landmine survivors and people
with disabilities in low-income countries. The CIR's products are
designed to meet the long-term economical, cultural, environmental,
and functional needs of people with disabilities in the communities
where they live, and can be made locally, using materials that are
inexpensive and widely available.
The CIR Sand Casting system is an innovative, cost-effective
system that uses vacuum-packed sand to fabricate a mold of an
amputee's residual limb for fabrication of prosthetic sockets. This
revolutionary process significantly improves the production rate
and quality of prostheses, offering a new alternative to
traditional methods. The system reduces production time for
socket fabrication from eight hours to one hour and relies on
recyclable materials, allowing for easier service in the remote
areas that the CIR serves.
Additionally, the CIR has developed anatomically based alignment
systems and a prosthetic foot that mimics natural movement.
Research is being completed on the Anatomically Based Axis (ABA)
and Vertical Alignment Axis (VAA) methods in Nicaragua, and the
protocol for field testing of the Shape&Roll Prosthetic Foot is
in development.
Education
In 2001, the CIR piloted a distance learning program designed to
train prosthetic technicians working in clinics and hospitals
serving landmine survivors, war-wounded, and other people with
disabilities in post-conflict countries. The CIR's courses were
developed in conjunction with the renowned Northwestern University
Prosthetics and Orthotics Center (NUPOC) and fulfill International
Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) Category II
Prosthetist requirements.
The CIR distance learning program in prosthetics is now being
taught to more than 70 students from 30 rehabilitation centers in
six countries. These centers treat an estimated 8,600 war-wounded
and other amputees each year. In January 2006, the CIR's distance
education students in Bosnia became the first in the region to
receive ISPO Category II certification. In addition, CIR staff
members conduct technology transfer and training workshops at
rehabilitation clinics and centers throughout the developing
world.
Interactive Online Tools
In 2006, the CIR launched the International Disability
Educational Alliance Network (IDEAnet). IDEAnet is an interactive
website that provides information, communication tools, and social
spaces designed to enable people from around the world to work
together on issues of importance to people with disabilities. The
site is designed around two communities. The Rehabilitation
Services Community works to improve services for people with
disabilities through the development and distribution of improved
assistive technologies and through the delivery of distance
education programs for service providers. The Disability Rights
Community is dedicated to promoting and protecting the human rights
of people with disabilities by building the capacity of grassroots
disability organizations and promoting the implementation and
monitoring of legal protections.
Advocacy
Disability rights advocacy efforts are an important component of
the CIR's efforts to assist people with disabilities worldwide in
achieving their full potential. Since 2001, the International
Disability Rights Monitor (IDRM) project has trained more than 40
disability advocates to document the progress, problems and
barriers experienced by people with disabilities. The IDRM has
published regional reports on the Americas and Asia, as well as
various thematic reports, including Disability and Early
Tsunami Relief Efforts in India, Indonesia and Thailand (2005) and
The International Disability Rights Compendium (2003). The CIR
continues to develop and expand its innovative programs, services
and technologies in order to better meet the needs of people with
disabilities worldwide.
For more information, visit www.cirnetwork.org 
Table Of Contents - April 2006
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