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Health & Fitness

Acres of Hope and Aspirations Presented "Creatures at the Heart of Healing" at Nursingmatters Expo 2013

Acres of Hope and Aspirations presented to the Nursingmatters Expo 2013 and demonstrated effective teaching tools through use of Creatures of Rehab for education and rehabilitation.

Six hundred plus nurses from a variety of medical care backgrounds, nursing instructors, and nursing students gathered for the Nursingmatters Expo 2013 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, a full day conference filled with educational speakers, vendor stations and lots of networking.  Acres of Hope and Aspirations was as "Proud as Peacocks" when asked to present and bring awareness of brain injury to all attendees.  "Creatures at the Heart of Healing" was the name of the presentation in which some of the Creatures of Rehab from the rehab farm located in Muskego included fur, feather and reptile friends also joined in the presentation. View the video recap of the Nursingmatters Expo 2013 and see some of the Creatures of Rehab interacting with the nurses by clicking on the link: http://host.madison.com/nursingmatters/nursingmatters-expo/vmix_132c9586-76db-11e2-be4b-001a4bcf887a.html

Acres of Hope and Aspirations is run and operated by rehabilitation nursing.  Acres of Hope and Aspirations was recognized by nursing peer support in 2012 by receiving the Community Service award by the Wisconsin Association of Rehabilitation Nurses.  Acres of Hope and Aspirations was asked to be the keynote speaker at the upcoming WARN State Conference in April, 2013. In addition, the Director of Nursing/Rehab, Lisa K. Alberte, RN, BSN, CCM, MS, CRC, ABDA was recognized by nurse peer support when she named Nurse of the Year in 2008 by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Milwaukee District Nurses Association.  

A brain injury happens every 19 seconds and changes, alters or takes a life.  It is a silent epidemic that is one of the most costly medical diagnosis that often becomes taxpayer liability since many people following brain injury can no longer work in competitive employment. Brain injury is the signature war wound of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. With the number of people surviving traumatic brain injury and living with severe cognitive, physical, emotional and  neurobehavioral deficits, nurses need to be empowered to "think outside the box" of just basic care and develop creative solutions for effective rehabilitation and recovery. Acres of Hope and Aspirations has wonderful and comforting Creatures of Rehab that can help someone relearn structure and routine, cognitive skills and vocational potential.  In addition, the Creatures of Rehab are very good teaching tools for helping children learn about brain injury awareness and prevention.  The only cure for brain injury is prevention. Any opportunity to provide awareness of brain injury is an opportunity to prevent a brain injury.

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Acres of Hope and Aspirations would like to thank Evan Coubal's grandfather, Michael Pedersen for loaning his horse trailer for getting some of the Creatures of Rehab to Madison. As a student at Baylane Middle School in Muskego, Evan lost his life way too young from a traumatic brain injury but his spirit is still making a difference is creating awareness of this silent epidemic. In addition, Acres of Hope and Aspirations would like to thank Allen Twinde, a retired U.S. Army veteran from rural Chaseburg, WI who donated his time to prepare the animals and drive the horse trailer and Julie Twinde who graciously donated her time in helping with the animals all day at the booth. In addition to the rehab staff from Acres of Hope and Aspirations, the effort of these volunteers helped make the Creatures of Rehab presence at the Nursingmatters Expo 2013 a great success and spread the word of the passion, hope and healing provided to veterans and others affected by brain injury.

Acres of Hope and Aspirations Charitable Foundation Inc. is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit charity that relies on donations and volunteers.  For more information about Acres of Hope and Aspirations, please refer to the web page at: www.acresofhopeandaspirations.org or facebook at: Acres of hope and aspirations.  Monetary donations and food and supplies to help feed and care for the Creatures of Rehab are always needed. Community service and volunteer hours as well as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and 4-H projects are also available.  Please contact us if you want to share in the opportunity to make a difference and/or call 414-422-4882.   

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