How do children deal with a life in a wheelchair?

Coloplast employee Philipp Nieke from Austria recently participated in a course for children with spina bifida, where he gave the children advice on how to handle life in a wheelchair.

Philipp Nieke is very familiar with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI), because he suffers from it himself. Philipp knows what children with SCI are going through and the daily challenges they face.“Kids don’t have the possibility to experience rehabilitation like adult SCI patients. So, it’s up to the children and their parents to learn how to handle the wheelchair and the continence care,” Philipp says.  

Philipp spent two days at the 'Mobi-Course' in Austria, where children with spina bifida and their parents learned how to deal with life in a wheelchair. The Mobi-Course lasted for one week, and Coloplast got this opportunity to participate while providing support and knowledge.

 

Learning through games

“We played games where the children learnt how to handle their wheelchair.” 
“After playing all day, we really got to know each other, and that closeness was important for me in order to talk about intimate topics related to continence care,” Philipp says.

 

A child-friendly understanding of anatomy

“I explained to them where the urine and the stool come from and that sometimes it’s necessary to use medical products in order to get rid of the useless stuff in our body.” 

Later on, Philipp gave the children some practical examples from every-day life, illustrating that they don’t have to limit themselves, as long as they have the appropriate products and services. Following the workshop children and parents had the chance to contact Philipp individually for a talk about how to make life easier.