218: Advocating for Accessible Healthcare for People with Disabilities With Chanda Hinton
Release Date: 06/17/2024
I Love Neuro
What does it take to get a piece of high-performance sports tech out of the soccer world and into the living rooms of people with Parkinson's? In this episode, hosts Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, and Claire McLean, PT, DPT, NCS, talk with Christoph Dressel, founder and CEO of Mimofit about the reaction-based light-pod system his team built after clinical trials in Spain showed real gains in dual-task performance, gait speed, and reaction time for people with Parkinson's. Christoph walks through the surprising finding that reaction-speed improvements only showed up once a timeout was added to...
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What if the key to helping a patient with Parkinson's find their voice again isn't more repetition, but movement? In this episode, hosts Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, and Claire McLean, PT, DPT, NCS, talk with Jessica Ackerman, MS, CCC-SLP, RYT, speech-language pathologist and founder of Speak Steady, about why the classic Parkinson's presentation so often goes untreated, and how a technique born out of a pandemic-era Zoom yoga class became a clinically validated, self-paced communication program. Jessica walks through the neuroplasticity and motor-learning principles behind pairing each spoken...
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Have you ever worked with a stroke survivor or patient with spinal cord injury who had swollen limbs and not been sure what to actually do about it? Maybe you tried something, maybe you didn’t because you didn’t realize you should. In this episode, host Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, talks with Rachel Walker, PT, DPT, GCS, CLWT, CBIS about why edema is so common — and so consequential — in the neuro population. Rachel walks through why unmanaged edema leads to pain, joint contracture, and long-term functional loss; how to run a full assessment (girth measurements, skin and...
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Why do two patients with what looks like the same stroke on paper walk out of rehab so differently — and why does a home exercise program built on ankle pumps and heel slides so often fail the people who need it most? In this episode, host Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, talks with returning guest Dr. Jennifaye V. Brown, PT, MSPT, PhD, NCS, CAPS, a four-time ten-year board-certified neurologic clinical specialist and author of Brace Yourself: Everything You Need to Know About AFOs After Stroke, about why going back to foundational neuroanatomy — knowing exactly where a lesion sits, how large...
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What tasks do you keep doing in your business that you secretly hate? In this episode, hosts Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, and Claire McLean, PT, DPT, NCS, talk with returning guest and favorite NeuroBiz coach Emily Duval Ledger about the reflective milestones of her 20-year entrepreneurial journey — from leaving her full-time job, to closing her brick-and-mortar gym during COVID, to running a leaner, more sustainable solo practice today. The conversation moves through the martyrdom trap so many clinician-business-owners fall into, how to actually trust a virtual assistant or new hire with...
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What if the biggest gains in your patients' outcomes came from four small, free shifts you could start using tomorrow? In this episode, host Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, talks with Jamie Haines, PT, DScPT, NCS, who recently left a long career as an associate professor at Central Michigan University for mobile concierge PT in Florida, where she treats patients with a wide range of neurologic conditions in their own environments. Jamie and Erin preview the "amplify your practice" framework, covering aerobic priming to get the nervous system ready to learn, rhythmic auditory stimulation and...
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How much hand function can come back after a neurologic injury, and how do you know whether to remediate or compensate? On this episode, host Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, talks with Jenna Barber, MOT, OTR/L, BCPR, an occupational therapist who specializes in neurorehabilitation across acute care, inpatient, and outpatient settings. In the show you’ll learn how to assess fine motor deficits through activity analysis and standardized testing, the difference between remediation and compensation and when to use either. We’ll also discuss favorite tools like FES, focal vibration, and rocker...
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In this episode, host Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, talks with returning guest Rose Tilton, OTR/L, OTD, an occupational therapist at Marquette University's Neuro Recovery Clinic, and new guest Dr. Yi-Kai Lo, PhD, CEO and co-founder of ANEUVO, about transcutaneous spinal stimulation (TSS) for people with spinal cord injury. Rose shares how she discovered TSS through her own research, became a clinical trial site investigator at Marquette, and now uses ANEUVO's ExaStim® device — a multi-channel electrode array system that can be individually programmed and timed to match specific functional...
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What if the biggest threat to your practice's growth isn't your marketing budget, but the way your team handles the very first phone call? Getting the phone to ring is necessary, but never sufficient. In this episode, host Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, talks with Daniel A. "Danny" Bobrow, MBA — creator of The Art of First Impressions™ and The Persuasion Blueprint, and President of AIM Dental Marketing — about the three pillars of persuasive communication: caring, connection, and collaboration. Danny reframes the moments clinicians tend to fumble, like the "do you take my insurance?"...
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What do you do when the most evidence-based intervention you have is also the one your patient is "not allowed" to receive? Constraint-induced movement therapy has decades of research behind it, yet its exclusion criteria — especially around cognitive impairment — rule out a huge share of the stroke survivors clinicians actually see. In this episode, hosts Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, and Claire McLean, PT, DPT, NCS, talk with neuro OT Briana Elson, MS, OTR/L, BCPR, CBIS, about her decision to try modified CIMT with an 86-year-old stroke patient who had significant cognitive impairment and...
info_outlineOur recent guest on the I Love Neuro podcast, Chanda Hinton, is doing impactful work to improve healthcare access and quality of care for individuals with disabilities. As the Executive Director of the Chanda Center for Health & Wellness in Denver, Colorado, Chanda leads efforts in both direct service provision and systemic advocacy.
Chanda shared her personal story of living with a spinal cord injury since 1991. She discussed the secondary conditions that often arise and how the medical model can fall short in long-term support. Chanda's experience with chronic pain and reliance on opioids inspired her vision for the Chanda Center - providing holistic, collaborative care through integrative therapies like physical therapy, acupuncture and massage.
For 19 years, the Chanda Center has evolved its approach. It now offers on-site services under one roof, including physical therapy, chiropractic, behavioral health and more. Chanda advocates for Medicaid coverage of these therapies based on her success with them. She works to reduce red tape around physical therapy access through Medicaid as well.
Chanda highlighted the need for improved disability competence among healthcare providers. Biases that disability equals sickness must be challenged. Providers need education and autonomy to respectfully serve individuals. Chanda also emphasized the importance of visibility - on social media and in mainstream representation. This helps normalize the reality that one in four people will experience disability.
Through direct service, advocacy and legislative change, Chanda empowers people with disabilities. She trains providers and works to redefine narratives around both disability and aging. Chanda's courageous and collaborative approach is uniquely improving lives and transforming healthcare systems.
To learn more about supporting the Chanda Center's mission, visit their website at https://chandacenter.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chandacenter/