The doors opens for Mollii in Kronoberg – Article in Smålandsposten
VÄXJÖ 2019-03-01 17.17, updated 2019-03-01 19.25
The Mollii suit changed the life of Neo Poblete Osmani. Region Kronoberg has opened the doors for other children to be able to get the aid prescribed and reimburst by the Region.
There is now the opportunity to make individual trials and prescriptions of the electro suit for children belonging to the Child and youth rehabilitation in Region Kronoberg
– We do not want to close any doors so therefore we have chosen to do this Says Lena Boberg, former chairman of the Assistant Council.
Making an individual case prescription is not the same as having the electro suit in the assistive product range, but it is one step closer. It means that the region is responsible for the cost of a suit with accessories if it gets approved.
The suit consists of a jacket, pants and a control unit and stimulates the body with electrical impulses, programmed individually to reduce spasticity and related pain. It is used one hour every other day and is preferably combined with exercise. For Neo Poblete Osmani, who was born with lobar holoprosencephaly, the suit has changed his and his parents’ lives.
– It has changed our entire lives. Before we needed to massage Neo several hours a day because of pain but since the suit came into our lives we do not need to massage Neo massage at all, now we do it because it is nice, says mother Maria Poblete Osmani.
Smålandsposten reported in 2016 how Neo Poblete Osmani’s preschool teacher started a collection so that Neo would get surgery in the US. The operation was successful, Neo slowly began to go but it is the suit that has helped him to become painless.
The parents did not think it would be reasonable to have to pay for an aid that is a prerequisite for their son to be able to walk without pain and began to fight for the suit to come into Kronoberg’s range of aids. The fight began in 2016 and in 2018, Neo Poblete Osmani got the suit as an approved aid.
“Every improvement is thanks to his suit,” says Faton Osmani.
The head of operations at the Assistive Technology Center, Mathias Hedvall Johansson, tells Smålandsposten that the studies that the Swedish Medical Aid Council has looked at have not been able to demonstrate any significant positive effect of the suit, but that it is more about individual experiences.
– There is no decision that Region Kronoberg should have wheelchairs, rollers and Mollii suits, but according to the Health and Medical Services Act, we have an obligation to work in the rehab area, where assistive devices are a complement to habilitation and rehabilitation. So the question of whether we should have the suit in our standard range is complex, says Mathias Hedvall Johansson, operations manager.
If the suit is to be included in the region’s standard range in the future is still not decided.
– One cannot say that this is something we should absolutely have based on the function of the Assistive Technology Council, but it needs to be further investigated, Mathias Hedvall Johansson, head of operations.
So far, Neo Poblete Osmani is the only child in Kronoberg who has received the suit prescribed by her physiotherapist.
“Our way of paying back to society is to be a contact and help with guidance for anyone who goes through the same thing as us. It feels like our obligation,” says Faton Osmani.
FACTS
What is Mollii?
Mollii is an aid for the person with spasticity and improper muscle tension due to cerebral palsy, stroke, MS, Parkinson’s, spinal cord injuries or other neurological damage.
Mollii consists of a pair of pants, a jacket and a detachable control unit that is programmed individually and sends electronic signals to the user.
The signals then reach the 58 electrodes that can be combined in different ways and are located inside the garments. The signals should help the body regain control of the muscle tension and, among other things, achieve relaxation and increased movement.
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Isabelle Haag, Smålandsposten
