What is Euro-Pēds® ?
Children and young adults with cerebral palsy (CP) and other neuromuscular disorders receive intensive physical therapy at the Euro-Pēds® clinic in order to achieve maximum improvement in minimal time. The North Oakland Foundation donated funds to the North Oakland Medical Centers in 1999 to help them open this ground breaking clinic.
Since 1999, children with all levels of involvement have been treated at Euro-Pēds®, the world’s first and only hospital-based program of its kind. Euro-Pēds® is located at Doctors' Hospital of Michigan. The intensive and individualized therapy programs offered at Euro-Pēds® center on stretching, manual therapy, strengthening, balance, coordination, functional activities, and gait training.
Therapy programs which focus on the child’s abilities and foster progress and change are based on a variety of established treatment methods and techniques that bridge the best European and American techniques, including PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation), NDT (Neurodevelopmental treatment), strength training, and sensory integration.
Innovative equipment options, including the Euro-Peds Therapy Suit (patent-pending) and The Universal Exercise Unit (UEU), help the children excel even further.
For a closer look into the Euro-Pēds program, feel free to view their website at www.europeds.org. (Link to EuroPeds that does not close our website)
Tools of the Trade – Equipment and Tools for the EuroPeds clinic made possible by your support…
Donations from the North Oakland Foundation at Work Changing Lives…
The Euro-Pēds® Therapy Suit*
The Euro-Peds Therapy Suits were purchase with funds donated by the North Oakland Foundation. We challenged the clinic to continue innovating – a hallmark of both the EuroPeds clinic and the North Oakland Foundation. They used the funds to produce many of the suits that help children learn to take their first steps. (Link to The Euro-Pēds® Therapy Suit*)
Universal Exercise Unit
We helped the clinic buy it’s first Universal Exercise Units and continue to support purchases of this life-changing equipment. Here is why it is important… (Link to Universal Exercise Unit)
Education & Home Exercise Program
Because the North Oakland Foundation wants every child to achieve his or her best results, we have supported equipment needs to bring the EuroPeds therapy back home with each patient. Here is more about the program’s Education and Home Exercise Program which Foundation funds have supported through various equipment purchases over the past 8 years… (Link to Education & Hope Exercise Program
The Euro-Pēds® Therapy Suit* is made of a comfortable soft cloth and a series of bungee-like rubber cords. The therapy suit is worn over a child’s clothing, enabling the child to practice and learn functional activities while in better alignment. Suit Therapy helps position the body as close to normal in both static and dynamic positions and also works with the vestibular and sensory systems of the body, which are integral in helping the brain learn new movement skills.
The rubber cords on the suit provide compression to the body’s joints helping to form connections between the muscles and the brain. Several studies have also indicated that suit therapy normalizes EEG signals **. The cords also provide resistance to muscles during movement, creating strength in otherwise underused muscles. These cords can be moved around and changed to address each child’s specific therapeutic goals.
*Because of the complexity of the Euro-Peds Therapy Suit and the potential complications it could cause, Euro-Peds believes that only trained professionals should provide suit therapy. Therefore, Euro-Peds does not sell their suit or promote its use in the home. The Euro-Peds Therapy Suit is patent-pending.
**Semenova KA: Basis for a Method of Dynamic Proprioceptive Correction in the Restorative Treatment of Patients with Residual Stage Infantile CP. Nneurosci Behav Phys 27(6): 639-43, 1997
**Sheinkman OG: The Influence of the Correction of Motor disorders on the Functional Status of the Brain in Infantile CP. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 100(3):28-32, 2000.
Universal Exercise Unit
The Universal Exercise Unit (UEU), sometimes called the “Spider Cage,” is a specialized and versatile device that is used to assist children in functional activities, strengthening exercise, balance and vestibular training, and even as a reward for a hard day’s work.
The cage is primarily used in the following three ways during therapy:
- Extra Support – a special belt on the child allows the therapists to connect them to the UEU with adjustable bungee cords. The cords provide the child with security and increased independence while allowing their therapist to work on activities (sitting, crawling, kneeling, standing and other strengthening exercises).
- Muscle Isolation – by placing a table in the cage, therapists are able to help a child isolate certain muscles with the help of adjustable pulleys and weights. Isolation helps the child accomplish movements that they may never been able to complete. In addition, the cage is useful to stretch larger children and young adults.
- Sensory Integration -- by suspending the child in the cage, therapists are able to work on vestibular stimulation, proprioception and sensory integration dysfunction.
Education & Home Exercise Program
During therapy, many children learn to sit up by themselves, roll over, crawl and even walk independently, but Euro-Pēds® Intensive Therapy doesn’t end when they leave the clinic. Every family is armed with an individualized Home Exercise Program upon discharge from each session which allows many of the children to continue to use and perfect their new skills, maintaining their progress and integrating the skills they’ve learned into their daily lives.
The customized and detailed home exercise program features printed digital pictures of their child performing the exercises and written instructions on how to continue therapy after discharge. For optimal follow-through at home, therapists spend time with parents demonstrating and practicing these activities to promote the continuation of progress.