Spinal Trust chief's fellowship award

14/10/2009

Andrew Hall (1981) is the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Spinal Trust which has the mission of supplying all those with spinal cord injuries, their families, friends, caregivers and health professionals with the information, resources and support needed to make independent living the ultimate goal of rehabilitation.

Andrew Hall

Earlier in the year Andrew was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to travel overseas. He took the trip in June and spent 21 days visiting New York, Washington DC, London and Stockholm.

With the New Zealand Spinal Trust becoming more proactive in advocating and lobbying on behalf of New Zealanders with spinal cord injuries (SCI) and their families, Andrew used his fellowship to learn about overseas trends.

He says the Spinal Trust often heard about issues and serious concerns that SCI encountered by people and their families but perhaps didn’t implement plans to solve or improve situations. So rather than say “that’s no good” or suggest ways that we know people have ‘gotten around’ the issue, he says “we wanted to get better at actually improving things”.

While in Washington DC Andrew was hosted by Professor Gerben De Jong, who is President Obama’s appointment as Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research – an organisation responsible for over $1 billion of research spending a year.

He says it was fascinating to visit and compare systems utilised in New Zealand with those in the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden. While a lot of what is achieved in New Zealand is very good, Andrew says there is considerable scope for real improvement.

For further information about the New Zealand Spinal Trust, visit their website: www.nzspinaltrust.org.nz