Description

This one hour online presentation will review challenges that families and young adults with childhood onset disabilities experience as they move beyond high school into the adult healthcare model and other aspects of life. We will discuss the process of how these transitions might be easier and more effective for all parties involved.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

1. Review the challenges of the transition process for young adults, families and providers. These challenges are present throughout the world.
2. Identify Massachusetts resources to help each of these parties with the process.
3. Demonstrate the ongoing need for providers to take on this role (and it can be incredibly rewarding).
4. Discuss the Young Adult Program we have at Spaulding in collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital. (Dr. Jason Frankel has been instrumental in being the primary contact person in this process.

Target Audience

This program is intended for Physicians and other clinical staff at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

Faculty

Donna Nimec, MD
Division Director, Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Dr. Nimec is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with additional training in pediatric medicine. She holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education and has permanent teaching certification in New York State. Dr. Nimec spent six years working with students with disabilities in the classroom setting prior to her training in medicine. She has worked with children with special needs and their families for over 40 years. Currently, Dr. Nimec is a pediatric physiatrist in the Department of Orthopaedics at Children’s Hospital. She is a member of the MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and Children’s Hospital Trauma Teams. For 17 years, she served as Medical Director of the inpatient Child and Adolescent Program at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, with a primary focus being on the treatment of children with traumatic brain injury, musculoskeletal conditions and stroke. children as they move beyond the acute care setting into the community. For the last 16 years, she has been Medical Director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. She works with both adults and children who have a variety of diagnoses that impact their ability to walk with a more efficient gait pattern. There are several research studies going on at any one time. Dr. Nimec’s specific area of interest is motion analysis and gait disorders.

Jason Frankel, MD
Staff Physiatrist
Spaulding Rehabilitation Network Instructor
Harvard Medical School

Dr. Frankel has been with Spaulding Rehabilitation for ten years. He maintains a busy outpatient practice dedicated to caring for adult patients with cerebral palsy, including many who are transitioning from pediatric to adult care.