Work Weekend

Programmes of heretofore held work weekends 2000-2005

A seminar - Work Weekend - is a project that is held every year in a different place in Croatia and has a different main theme. Work weekend is assigned, in the first place, to the members of HUPT, their companions, family members, front men of the local community (where the meeting is taking place) and experts of different profiles. It is very significant program for the members of HUPT. A hundred people, sixty of them are persons with paraplegia or quadriplegia are working together for two days, exchanging experiences and learning to help themselves in everyday living. The presence of experts is logistic support to people who do not have opportunity to communicate them directly in daily living. We are also trying to engage and involve experts and Medias from the local community in which we are to come. In that way, we contribute to better sensibility of the local authorities and public.

A basic content of the entire program is directed to improve life quality of persons with spinal cord injury and their near ones including different social, health and public subjects.

Persons who suffered spinal cord injury, after leaving rehabilitation centre, are regularly confronted to a large number of difficult-to-solve problems, and there is not any organised community aid. This group of injured persons is specific for the fact that they have became handicapped in just one moment – entirely immobilized in a lower part of body or in the upper part too. Beside the fact that this damage demands intensive care and support in short period to achieve necessary and wanted results – remobilisation, each of these persons has, more or less, disturbed physical functions under the injury level. It refers to disturbed body sensitivity, digestion, urinary tract, high skin and body sensitivity to appearance of the wounds, circulation, pain etc. As only small number of experts is engaged in this complex of problems, every year, we organize Work weekend involving members of HUPT and experts. It is the opportunity for the members to get, trough group or individual work, useful notifications and professional answers to questions they are daily enfaced.

The goal of this project is better notification of persons with spinal cord injury, same as their families, about a spinal cord injury and the necessity of regular medical checkups, awareness of persons with paraplegia and quadriplegia concerning health care, their legal rights and possibilities and better communication between HUPT members.