Following a nomination and voting process by the employees of Mitie, the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) were absolutely delighted to have been chosen as the charity partner for the 2022 Mitie Staff Awards Night. Through ticket sales and a raffle on the night, Mitie raised an incredible €10,000 in support of the National Rehabilitation University Hospital (NRH) for adults and children.
This money is being used for the purchasing of specialised assisted technology devices and equipment for Woodpark, the rehabilitative independent living unit in the New Hospital Development on the NRH site.
This new Smart Home Technologies Project in the NRH will enable patients and their families to trial and test this technology before they might look to making the investment to purchase this assistive technology for their own home going forward. Some of this assistive technology is very expensive so it is a big investment for families to make but can be life changing for the patient in relation to giving them independence and control back in their own home.
Smart home technology enables access to devices through various alternative control methods e.g. voice control. Examples of smart home technologies can include Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Home pod etc. These systems would give patients access to control TV, curtains/blinds, lights, music, internet, etc. Having this technology available would give patients the opportunity to trial these technologies in a meaningful and contextual environment. These opportunities to trial such technologies is an essential component of a person’s rehabilitation. Such trials can support informed choices and decision making and eliminate abandonment of costly technologies. The opportunity to trial smart home technology will have benefits for patients across all programme in the NRH: Brain Injury, Spinal Cord System of Care, Limb Loss and the Paediatric Programme.
The funds raised by Mitie will also enable the NRH to put together some Assistive Technology Loan Kits for incoming patients with a complex acquired brain injury. This will be invaluable for this particular patient group and will greatly help on their rehabilitation journey.
We are so grateful to all the staff at Mitie for this amazing support and for making this very worthwhile project a reality in the NRH.