Latest news with #JeanetteRussell
Scotsman
21-05-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
Game-changing footwear prevents trips and falls in stroke & MS survivors
Researchers at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh have developed an innovative new shoe which is helping prevent trips and falls in people with stroke and multiple sclerosis. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The new footwear technology is transforming the lives of people with foot-drop – a condition which makes it difficult for people to lift the front part of their foot and often results in falls. People living with foot-drop find it very difficult and tiring to walk. They struggle to keep their toes lifted, and can therefore drag or catch their foot on the ground. This can be due to conditions that affect the nervous system, causing a malfunction of the communication between the brain and the muscles that lift the foot at the ankle. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The number of people who experience foot-drop is unknown, however, around 20% of people with stroke and almost 50% of those with MS develop foot-drop. So, just looking at these conditions alone, it is estimated that this new footwear tech could improve walking and prevent falls in 322,400 people across the UK and 3.8m globally. Jeanette Russell walking with confidence with the footwear from the Health Design Collective The cleverly designed footwear has been developed by the Health Design Collective, a team of allied health professionals and researchers mainly based at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. After several years of design and testing, the research team now has a footwear prototype which has the potential to be a game-changer for people with the condition. Professor Cathy Bulley, a physiotherapist at Queen Margaret University, is part of the research project, which is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) She explained: 'Foot-drop can be caused by damage to the nervous system within the brain, spinal cord or the nerves in the lower back or legs. Walking can be a huge effort for people with foot-drop – both physically and mentally. People must concentrate to ensure their toes clear the ground, often by lifting their hips and knees up further and swinging their leg out. 'The increased risk of trips and falls can have a terrible impact on people's quality of life. It leads to fear, avoidance of walking, reduced physical activity and less involvement in social and working life. It reduces people's confidence and independence and can send them into a downwards spiral. There are various products on the market, but there are drawbacks with all of them. They don't work for everyone, and can be expensive and difficult to tolerate.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Cathy confirmed: 'People with permanent foot-drop need a comfortable, affordable, and attractive, unobtrusive device that holds the foot up while allowing ankle movement. Our new footwear has been co-designed with people with stroke, MS and cerebral palsy, and feedback from our users is outstanding!' Jeanette Russell walking with confidence in her new footwear as the Health Design Collective team assess Case Study Jeanette Russell from Edinburgh worked as a nurse in the military before developing MS and subsequently, foot-drop. She was one of the first people to trial the new footwear technology, and has become a key collaborator in the research. She said: "This footwear is a gamechanger for people who struggle with mobility due to foot-drop. I really put the footwear through its paces. I wore them in and out of the house, at the exercise studio and whilst driving. My mobility, speed of walking, gait and confidence improved immensely, and I knew the team was onto a winner! What really amazed me was watching myself walking with my normal footwear on, and then the shoes. My normal rolling gait was gone, and I was walking upright, with confidence for the first time in eight years. It was life-changing!" Jeanette loves hillwalking and being outdoors, but foot-drop has really made this challenging in recent years. Thanks to the new footwear, Jeanette has been able to confidently return to hillwalking. She really pushed the footwear to the max as she navigated steep gradients during a walking holiday in Glencoe this February. She said: 'The difference in my walking ability is mind-blowing. In my normal boots, I fell down on flat surfaces with no obstacles. Using the footwear, I can walk up and down steep pathways and literally traverse rocks and navigate slippery surfaces without falling. This is what the footwear allows me to do, and why I am so passionate about making sure everyone with footdrop has access to this life-changing footwear.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Jeanette Russell walking with confidence with Health Design Collective footwear Jeanette concluded: 'I also can't wait to wear them at the Remembrance Day Parade in London, later on this year. As a veteran, it means so much to me to be able to march, with confidence, past the Cenotaph.' Low tech but clever footwear Professor Derek Santos, from Queen Margaret University, is the podiatry specialist on the project. He explained: 'We've developed a low-tech, all-season, every-day piece of footwear that incorporates an attractive design which is both comfortable and supports the foot during walking. It's a fairly simple design, but it's been co-developed with people who have lived experience of foot-drop, alongside experts who really understand the anatomy and mechanics of the feet and limbs when walking.' Thanks to a grant from the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the research team is now partnering with a design and manufacturing company to progress the production of the new shoes. The aim is to produce a shoe that will be attractive, low-tech and affordable, which will help to ensure that they are accessible for anyone who can benefit from them. Professor Mike Lewis, NIHR Scientific Director for Innovation, said: "Innovative devices like this are helping to ensure the NHS can be there for everyone when they need it. This new device is a great example of a simple yet ingenious solution to a common problem for people with stroke and MS that can help them be more independent and live better." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Professor Bulley concluded: 'In the future, we hope that these innovative shoes will become widely available to patients through the NHS, so we can help improve the lives of a wide range of people with foot-drop. We would also like to adapt the design to create other types of footwear, such as hiking boots, exercise boots and an affordable sandal that's accessible for people with foot-drop in countries with warmer climates. 'No matter where you live, how much money you have, or what condition or trauma has led to foot-drop - everyone deserves to have the best chance to improve their walking. We hope our clever new footwear will provide a simple, affordable solution for millions of people with foot-drop across the UK and internationally.'
Scotsman
21-05-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
Game-changing footwear prevents trips and falls in stroke & MS survivors
Researchers at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh have developed an innovative new shoe which is helping prevent trips and falls in people with stroke and multiple sclerosis. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The new footwear technology is transforming the lives of people with foot-drop – a condition which makes it difficult for people to lift the front part of their foot and often results in falls. People living with foot-drop find it very difficult and tiring to walk. They struggle to keep their toes lifted, and can therefore drag or catch their foot on the ground. This can be due to conditions that affect the nervous system, causing a malfunction of the communication between the brain and the muscles that lift the foot at the ankle. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The number of people who experience foot-drop is unknown, however, around 20% of people with stroke and almost 50% of those with MS develop foot-drop. So, just looking at these conditions alone, it is estimated that this new footwear tech could improve walking and prevent falls in 322,400 people across the UK and 3.8m globally. Jeanette Russell walking with confidence with the Health Design Collective footwear The cleverly designed footwear has been developed by the Health Design Collective, a team of allied health professionals and researchers mainly based at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. After several years of design and testing, the research team now has a footwear prototype which has the potential to be a game-changer for people with the condition. Professor Cathy Bulley, a physiotherapist at Queen Margaret University, is part of the research project, which is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) She explained: 'Foot-drop can be caused by damage to the nervous system within the brain, spinal cord or the nerves in the lower back or legs. Walking can be a huge effort for people with foot-drop – both physically and mentally. People must concentrate to ensure their toes clear the ground, often by lifting their hips and knees up further and swinging their leg out. 'The increased risk of trips and falls can have a terrible impact on people's quality of life. It leads to fear, avoidance of walking, reduced physical activity and less involvement in social and working life. It reduces people's confidence and independence and can send them into a downwards spiral. There are various products on the market, but there are drawbacks with all of them. They don't work for everyone, and can be expensive and difficult to tolerate.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Cathy confirmed: 'People with permanent foot-drop need a comfortable, affordable, and attractive, unobtrusive device that holds the foot up while allowing ankle movement. Our new footwear has been co-designed with people with stroke, MS and cerebral palsy, and feedback from our users is outstanding!' Jeanette Russell walking with confidence with the Health Design Collective footwear Case Study Jeanette Russell from Edinburgh worked as a nurse in the military before developing MS and subsequently, foot-drop. She was one of the first people to trial the new footwear technology, and has become a key collaborator in the research. She said: ""This footwear is a gamechanger for people who struggle with mobility due to foot-drop. I really put the footwear through its paces. I wore them in and out of the house, at the exercise studio and whilst driving. My mobility, speed of walking, gait and confidence improved immensely, and I knew the team was onto a winner! What really amazed me was watching myself walking with my normal footwear on, and then the shoes. My normal rolling gait was gone, and I was walking upright, with confidence for the first time in eight years. It was life-changing!" Jeanette loves hillwalking and being outdoors, but foot-drop has really made this challenging in recent years. Thanks to the new footwear, Jeanette has been able to confidently return to hillwalking. She really pushed the footwear to the max as she navigated steep gradients during a walking holiday in Glencoe this February. She said: 'The difference in my walking ability is mind-blowing. In my normal boots, I fell down on flat surfaces with no obstacles. Using the footwear, I can walk up and down steep pathways and literally traverse rocks and navigate slippery surfaces without falling. This is what the footwear allows me to do, and why I am so passionate about making sure everyone with footdrop has access to this life-changing footwear.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Jeanette concluded: 'I also can't wait to wear them at the Remembrance Day Parade in London, later on this year. As a veteran, it means so much to me to be able to march, with confidence, past the Cenotaph.' Low tech but clever footwear Professor Derek Santos, from Queen Margaret University, is the podiatry specialist on the project. He explained: 'We've developed a low-tech, all-season, every-day piece of footwear that incorporates an attractive design which is both comfortable and supports the foot during walking. It's a fairly simple design, but it's been co-developed with people who have lived experience of foot-drop, alongside experts who really understand the anatomy and mechanics of the feet and limbs when walking.' Thanks to a grant from the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the research team is now partnering with a design and manufacturing company to progress the production of the new shoes. The aim is to produce a shoe that will be attractive, low-tech and affordable, which will help to ensure that they are accessible for anyone who can benefit from them. Professor Mike Lewis, NIHR Scientific Director for Innovation, said: "Innovative devices like this are helping to ensure the NHS can be there for everyone when they need it. This new device is a great example of a simple yet ingenious solution to a common problem for people with stroke and MS that can help them be more independent and live better." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Professor Bulley concluded: 'In the future, we hope that these innovative shoes will become widely available to patients through the NHS, so we can help improve the lives of a wide range of people with foot-drop. We would also like to adapt the design to create other types of footwear, such as hiking boots, exercise boots and an affordable sandal that's accessible for people with foot-drop in countries with warmer climates. 'No matter where you live, how much money you have, or what condition or trauma has led to foot-drop - everyone deserves to have the best chance to improve their walking. We hope our clever new footwear will provide a simple, affordable solution for millions of people with foot-drop across the UK and internationally.'
CBC
19-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Putting a face on the fight for search and rescue in Labrador
Advocacy groups and residents of Labrador are pleading for improved search and rescue off the coast of the Big Land in a new safety campaign called Faces of Fish Harvesters. Among them include a recreational boater whose grandson just started fishing offshore, the daughter of a fish harvester whose father's boat went missing in 1990, fish harvesters from both Labrador and the island of Newfoundland and the mayor of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, who managed Labrador and St. Anthony coast guard radio services for twenty years. The Labrador Coalition for Search and Rescue coordinator Jeanette Russell started the campaign on April 23. Over 150 people have added their voice to the cause since, whether as a featured fish harvester of the day, or as someone with ties and connections to the Labrador coast. The root of the issue, Russell says, is the "Labrador SAR black zone." While Newfoundland has seven primary search and rescue stations and three in-shore rescue craft stations, Labrador has zero, she said. "When it comes down to the mandate of a primary search and rescue station … their only job is to do search and rescue. They're not required to do anything else," Russell told CBC News. Solely relying on secondary search and rescue resources, on the other hand, "comes down to being fortunate," she added. "You have to be lucky enough for the coast guard auxiliary vessel to be nearby," she said, referring to the volunteer-run arm of the Canadian Coast Guard. "Or possibly, if you're very lucky for a search and rescue lifeboat to be patrolling the area or for another vessel of opportunity to be in your vicinity to respond to a marine incident." As the mother of Marc Russell — a fish harvester who, alongside his crew mate Joey Jenkins, was lost at sea in 2021 — Jeanette Russell's fight for search and rescue resources in Labrador is personal. Since the death of her son, Russell has been lobbying politicians, advocating for change. So far, she said she doesn't feel she's being heard. But by highlighting the people connected to the Labrador coast, Russell aims to put more of a face on the issue. "Ottawa and the Canadian Coast Guard and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have lost sight of who we're lobbying for," Russell said. "My effort today doesn't change what happened to Marc and Joey, but it can save future lives." Call for long-range, air-rescue helicopter in Labrador Jennifer Horsman, a former employee with the Canadian Coast Guard, is among those standing behind the campaign. "Labradorians are taxpayers. They deserve better service," said Horsman. "You know, it's a huge, vast region." Now based in New Brunswick, Horsman worked as a maritime search and rescue coordinator at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax between 2011 and 2021. Overseeing responses in Labrador was very tricky, she said, thanks to the region's remote terrain, challenging weather conditions and limited communications systems. Horsman's number one recommendation for the Canadian Coast Guard is to bring a Cormorant helicopter to Labrador. "Labrador is a huge coast, and to have a vessel that could cover the entirety of the coast, logistically, that might not be possible," Horsman said. "Whereas, you know, a helicopter can get on scene a lot faster." Horsman explained that Cormorants are long-range helicopters, capable of hoisting people from ships and remote locations on the coast. She said during her time with the coast guard, the provincial government often requested Cormorants for medical evacuations in Labrador, saying it could take 10 to 12 hours for the air-rescue helicopters to arrive. Horsman added that since the military oversees search and rescue in the country, she believes 5 Wing Goose Bay would be the ideal site for a permanent search and rescue station in Labrador. "They have existing infrastructure there in Goose Bay, there already is a squadron there. So it would just make sense," she said. 'They don't care about Labrador lives' Liberal MP Joanne Thompson, who is continuing her role as the federal minister of fisheries, declined CBC's interview request. But in a statement, the department said the safety of mariners and the protection of the marine environment are the top priorities of the Canadian Coast Guard. "Recognizing there are always improvements to be made, we are working collaboratively with our search and rescue partners, including Indigenous and coastal communities, to bolster marine emergency response capacity in Labrador," the statement reads. The department said the Canadian Coast Guard evaluated its search and rescue delivery on the Labrador coast in 2024, though a report is still being drafted. As well, the department pointed to the expansion of the volunteer-run Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary in Labrador, the Indigenous Community Boat Volunteer Program, and the 24/7 marine radio communication service. With a new federal government in power, Russell hopes to secure meetings with federal MPs about the issue. But so far, she said, she's been met with a "lack of appetite" in Ottawa. "I don't know if I got to go up to Ottawa and chain myself onto the gates, or I don't know what it's going to take. But, to date, we're not getting anywhere," she said. "They don't care about Labrador lives, but our lives do matter. And we are going to have another catastrophe if they don't get something started." St. Lewis fish harvester Chad Strugnell, who's taken an active role in the campaign, agrees this is a matter of life and death. Without primary search and rescue, Strugnell said he worries about the response time to marine incidents, especially during winter when there are less vessels on the water. On top, he said, he's seeing more and more recreational boats on the Labrador coast lately. "It's very concerning. Every year that we go on the water, you know, it's in our minds," said Strugnell.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
It's just a pair of shoes - but they're life-changing for me
Jeanette Russell has never been more delighted with a new pair of were created by a skilled designer but they are not the latest in high-end shoes have been specially designed to stop Jeanette falling over - and they are black boot-like creations are for people like Jeanette who suffer from footdrop, a condition caused by her MS that makes it difficult for her to walk unaided without tripping or falling over. "I just put the boots on and I can drive, I can do the gym I can go hill-walking," says Jeanette."I can walk over terrain that is really rough and can walk normally down the street with confidence and strides, when before I had a rolling gait which gave me a really sore back. "I haven't had any falls since I've been wearing the shoes."Footdrop affects many people who have conditions affecting the nervous system, like MS or cerebral palsy, or people who have had a struggle to keep their toes lifted, making walking difficult and tiring. As a result, they are more likely to researchers at Queen Margaret University (QMU) in Edinburgh have invented a shoe which they hope will tackle this problem by providing the right kind of support to the foot, keeping the wearer upright and safer. Prof Derek Santos is one of the QMU researchers who designed the shoe. He says the concept is quite simple but very effective. The use of adjustable velcro straps helps the shoe to fit each user and support at the ankle. "You can adjust the elastic depending on your disability," he said."If you have a weaker muscle or a totally paralysed muscle you can actually activate the elastic to compensate for these things. "You can also tighten the elastic more on one side than the other. "If you have a foot that inverts, sometimes people tend to trip over, so the boot will actually put your foot in a much better position by simply adjusting the tension in the elastics."The research team believe the new footwear could improve the wearer's walking and prevent hundreds of thousands of falls in the as it is a global problem, podiatry lecturer Dr Kavi Jagadamma says they want to help people around the world and adapt the shoe to individual needs. "We are particularly interested in developing simple designs like sandals where this could be integrated for people in hot countries or people living in low income countries, where people can't afford expensive boots," he said."The simple sandals might be more accessible and also culturally more normal to wear. So that's our ambition going forward."Professor of physiotherapy Cathy Bulley is also part of the QMU research team. She says the fact that it looks like a normal piece of clothing is a big advantage."We felt we needed another option for people that was more comfortable to wear, easier to put on and generally that people are more likely to keep using."We've been working on the clever but low-tech solution."Jeanette, a former army nurse, says her physical confidence has been restored by the shoe. She has even been able to return to the challenging hill-walks she loves."I'm looking forward to getting a hiking boot in this design so I can get up Ben Nevis. "I'm also hoping to be marching past the cenotaph this November, with pride in my boots. "
