Dr. Rogers, her team, and the LIH SkyCity Team

The “assembly team” at Beijing LIH Olivia’s Place

The initial launch of GoBabyGo in China brought 10 modified ride-on cars in total to Chinese children. Special donation ceremonies were held at LIH SkyCity Rehabilitation Hospital and LIH Olivia’s Place Beijing. Dr. Sandra Rogers, Professor at Pacific University (Oregon, US), and Dr. Fengyi Kuo, LIH Healthcare Occupational Therapy Corporate Lead, presented 4 retro-fitted ride-on cars to 2 Kunming families and 2 Beijing families. In Beijing, therapists from Shunyi Women and Children’s Hospital of Beijing Children’s Hospital also participated in the program.

Dr. Kuo and Dr. Rogers being interviewed by local media in Kunming

GoBabyGo has been promoted in the US for 15 years and it is hoped that the modified ride-on cars can now be accessible to more Chinese children with disability, helping to improve their mobility. According to Dr. Sandra Rogers, GoBabyGo has been working in many nations and the reason for choosing Kunming and Beijing as the first cities in China to launch the program was that LIH Healthcare has international facilities with an advanced rehabilitation philosophy that matches well with the program’s philosophy and vision.According to Dr. Kuo, through the training conducted by Dr. Sandra Rogers and her team, physicans and therapists in Kunming and Beijing learned basic techinques to retrofit the motorized cars.

A child in Beijng, who has Type II Spinal Muscular Atrophy, sat in the car trying to make it move. When he was asked by a therapist which color car he liked best, he answered, “red,” without any hesitation, and gave a new name to the car- a little red bee! The child’s dad was asked to join the assembly team. He took out all the parts started work with the clinical team.

In Kunming, When Dr. Rogers and her team learned than an 8-year-old child would be presented with a car, they searched for a larger ride-on car to retrofit.  “We will tweak the car to fit each child’s condition, if the recipient is an older child, we will choose a proper sized car specific to the child’s situation, make the car more comfortable to maneuver for the child,” said Dr. Kuo.

Modifying the seat back panel to fit the child.

When the assembly was finished, the program team and therapists let kids sit in the cars, adjusting the manual brake to make it easy to manipulate. At the same time, they tweaked the seats to make the child felt cozy behind the wheel, and enjoy the freedom of a little mobility when driving.

Replacing the controller based on the child’s hand strength, from a selection of 3 controllers.

That’s it!

With the guidance of their therapy teams, the children learned to drive the modified cars, use the controller, and avoid the obstacles placed by therapists. They learned quickly while having fun.

In Beijing, a young driver can’t get enough of his ride-on car, especially when crashing into targets.

Modified on-ride cars can improve children’s cognitive ability and independence, at the same time bringing happiness through play. The kids in Beijing were given group pictures as the event came to a close, some children exclaimed, “we are a family”, yeah! We are families, caring about each other, and fighting for love!”  Here, we’d like to extend our appreciation to Dr. Sandra Rogers, and her team, for this great program they brought to Chinese families and their dedication and contribution to pediatric rehabilitation.Together with LIH Healthcare, GoBabyGo is sure to continue its journey in China, creating more opportunities for the children we serve and their families.

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Training content included babies’ development in utero, nursing models for newborns, stress signals, interpretation of APGAR, and positioning, evaluation and feeding of newborns.
In the class, learners were not only presented with theory but also video demonstration and manual manipulation for positioning and feeding babies, in order to smoothly transfer theoretical knowledge to clinical practice. Participants were required to pass an online test before finishing each day’s course content in order to reinforce theoretical foundations, fill in gaps, and foster discussion and exchange of ideas among peers.

Professor Roger’s passion for teaching was evident and many students commented that they learn a lot from the course, because the content was well structured and very practical.

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XinHua Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Shanghai, was selected to be the main organizing institution for the 2016 Congress. “Forward to the future of Pediatric Cardiology” was set as the vision for the event and many cardiology professionals from around the world were invited. As one of the most important parts of this international conference, Dr. Du of Xinhua Hospital presented on cardiac rehabilitation over two days. LIH Olivia’s Place Shanghai has been working with Xinhua Hospital and Dr. Du’s team for almost five years, supporting Xinhua through various clinical pathways, including physical and occupational therapy, NICU rehabilitation, and diagnosis and Intervention for autism.

Our invaluable partnership has enabled us to arrange opportunities for widely recognized clinicians to share their knowledge and experience through their research and work during APPCS 2016. Dr. FengYi Kuo from LIH Olivia’s Place was invited by Dr. Du to moderate the conference on 22 October. Dr. Kuo ensured that the 100 attendees were able to exchange questions and discussion with each presenter, providing clarification as needed to leap linguistic and cultural gaps. At the invitation of LIH Olivia’s Place, 4 exceptional clinicians from top tier institutions in the US, as well as two senior clinicians from LIH Olivia’s Place, presented at the Congress:
• Dr. Sandra L. Rogers, Professor of Occupational Therapy, Pacific University
• Chris Tapley, Physical Therapist, University of Michigan/Mott Women’s and Children’s Hospital (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
• Megan E. Rose, Registered Dietitian, Pediatric Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit, University of Michigan/ Mott Women’s and Children’s Hospital ( Ann Arbor, Michigan)
• Dr. Jennifer Fridgen, Physical Therapist, Seattle Children’s
• Dr. Fengui Kuo, Occupational Therapist, LIH Olivia’s Place
• Dr. Becci Dow, Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Manager, LIH Olivia’s Place Shanghai

During the one and half day cardiac rehabilitation training, all six clinicians presented on different strategies, methods, and interventions for congenital health disease, high-risk infants, posture and positioning for disabled children, feeding, nutrition, swallowing, and early movement, and they also shared with the audience the test and intervention strategies for cardiopulmonary exercise. During the training, Dr. Rogers also gave a workshop on Newborn Baby Assessment and Feeding. Three additional clinicians from LIH Olivia’s Place Shanghai, Speech-language pathologists Sophia Guarracino and Chihui Yong, and Occupational therapist Elle Millward, also attended the conference.

LIH Olivia’s Place, an affiliate of LIH Healthcare, is working with national medical groups to bring international knowledge and research to China. We are working within our communities and in partnership with local hospitals to advance medical development in China and help more children access quality resources and services to reach their potential.

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