Category: Employment and AT

The First Prescription Digital Therapeutic Authorized for the Adjunctive Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) Symptoms

From Otsuka: Click through for the full post…

In a landmark clinical study, this innovative adjunctive treatment delivered via smartphone app reduced depression symptoms in participants on antidepressant medication with no treatment-related adverse events.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Co. Ltd. (Otsuka) and Click Therapeutics, Inc., (Click) announce that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Rejoyn™ (developed as CT-152), the first prescription digital therapeutic authorized for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) symptoms as an adjunct to clinician-managed outpatient care for adult patients with MDD age 22 years and older who are on antidepressant medication. Rejoyn is intended to reduce MDD symptoms.

Rejoyn is a six-week treatment program designed to help enhance cognitive control of emotion through a combination of clinically-validated cognitive emotional training exercises for the brain and brief therapeutic lessons. Unlike wellness apps, the Rejoyn app is a medical device authorized by the FDA for prescription by a healthcare professional.

“Rejoyn represents a novel and exciting adjunctive treatment option to address major depressive disorder (MDD) symptoms that complements the current standard of care,” said John Kraus, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer at Otsuka. “While traditional approaches are often effective, many are left with only a partial response to treatment. Otsuka has a long, unwavering commitment to addressing the unmet needs of people living with mental illnesses and the clearance of Rejoyn is an example of delivering on that promise. We are deeply grateful to the trial participants, clinicians, and everyone at Otsuka and Click Therapeutics, who helped Rejoyn reach this important milestone.”

End of internet subsidies for low-income households threatens telehealth access

By Sarah Jane Tribble: Click through for the full post…

For Cindy Westman, $30 buys a week’s worth of gas to drive to medical appointments and run errands.

It’s also how much she spent on her monthly internet bill before the federal Affordable Connectivity Program stepped in and covered her payments.

“When you have low income and you are living on disability and your daughter’s disabled, every dollar counts,” said Westman, who lives in rural Illinois.

More than 23 million low-income households — urban, suburban, rural, and tribal — are enrolled in the federal discount program Congress created in 2021 to bridge the nation’s digital connectivity gap. The program has provided $30 monthly subsidies for internet bills or $75 discounts in tribal and high-cost areas.

But the program is expected to run out of money in April or May, according to the Federal Communications Commission. In January, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asked Congress to allocate $6 billion to keep the program running until the end of 2024. She said the subsidy gives Americans the “internet service they need to fully participate in modern life.”

The importance of high-speed internet was seared into the American psyche by scenes of children sitting in parking lots and outside fast-food restaurants to attend school online during the covid-19 pandemic. During that same period, health care providers and patients like Westman say, being connected also became a vital part of today’s health care delivery system.

Westman said her internet connection has become so important to her access to health care she would sell “anything that I own” to stay connected.

WMATA’s funding crisis will disproportionately hurt essential workers with disabilities

By Karl Groninger: Click through for the full post…

It’s a little-known fact that the federal government is supported by an essential workforce of nearly 37,000 people who are blind or have severe disabilities, including tens of thousands here in the DMV. Every day, these highly trained, highly skilled workers perform duties vital to government operations and national security at dozens of federal sites across our region. Without them, the federal government—and by extension, our local economy—could not function.

Nearly 1,000 of these workers are employed by Melwood, a leading non-profit employer, advocate, and service provider for people with disabilities. Melwood’s employees, like many other disabled workers who support the federal government, are required to report to job sites daily in the metropolitan DC area. Most rely on public transportation to get to those jobs, and to maintain freedom of movement in their personal lives.

As Chief Contract Operations Officer for Melwood, I oversee operations to help ensure these workers have what they need to be successful—including access to safe, reliable transportation. While WMATA was able to avoid an immediate death-spiral scenario that would have crippled public transit in our region, I continue to have grave concerns about the agency’s unresolved financial troubles and the disproportionate impact any future funding and service cuts could have on workers with disabilities across our region.

We saw the immediate and dramatic impact station closures and other reductions in public transit services had on our employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, including disruptions to daily routines, restricted freedom of movement, and financial losses resulting from lost overtime opportunities due to a lack of off-peak public transit options. We were able to keep our essential workforce employed during the pandemic by diverting our entire fleet of vehicles to transport these workers to and from job sites during this period. This emergency operation was only possible because other Melwood programs utilizing our private vehicles shuttered during that period.

Should WMATA continue to face budget shortfalls and be forced to roll back significant portions of its service in the future, we already know we will not be able to replicate the full scope of our pandemic-response transportation services. The fallout from the lack of viable forms of transportation would not only harm our employees, but would disproportionately impact disabled workers across our region, stunt the organizations that rely on them, and hurt our economy more broadly.

Evinced Proposes Long Overdue Mobile Content Accessibility Guidelines

By Gus Alexiou: Click through for the full post…

The idea of “mobile-first” in relation to the prioritization of web content design elements has been around for well over a decade and yet a codified set of mobile-specific international guidelines to make smartphone apps accessible to users with disabilities has been slow to emerge.

Presumably when former Google CEO Eric Schmidt introduced the idea of “mobile-first” design back in 2010 he couldn’t have imagined it would take this long. However, he’d likely find it thoroughly unsurprising that, according to the Global System for Mobile Communications Association, there are projected to be 3.7 billion people (72% of the global internet base) who will access the internet exclusively via mobile by 2025.

Attempting to address this design deficit is California-headquartered Evinced which specializes in building software to track and prevent digital accessibility issues. At the CSUN conference held in Anaheim earlier this month, the largest of its kind worldwide focusing on assistive technology and accessibility, the company announced bold plans to kickstart a movement that it hopes will one day lead to an official set of international guidelines for accessible mobile app design.

In fact, rather than just an expression of noble intentions, Evinced has already progressed matters considerably by creating and publishing a draft set of open-source guidelines which the company hopes will be a starting point for further collaboration and collective action within the industry. Led by Head of Accessibility Illai Zeevi, the Mobile Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, or MCAG for short, derives its nomenclature from the Worldwide Web Consortium’s globally recognized Web Content Accessibility Guidelines that have been around since 1999.

breAthe clean air withrespiray Wear A+

From Respiray: Click through for the full post…

ngd-I can’t vouch for the quality of this device. I just thought it was an interesting take on managing quality of air and respiratory difficulties…

The best wearable personal air purifier for allergies, viruses and air pollution.

Kansas Plans to Phase Out Subminimum Wage for Disabled People

By JULIA MÉTRAUX: Click through for the full post…

On Thursday, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly signed legislation into law that would start to phase out subminimum wage for disabled people in the state. For decades, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 has made it legal to pay disabled people less than minimum wage if they have a certificate. Only fourteen other states have passed laws to phase out this practice.

“I’m signing this bipartisan legislation to create more opportunities for people with disabilities, grow our workforce, and ensure every Kansan can work with dignity and respect,” Gov. Kelly said. 

In states where subminimum wage is still legal, companies apply for 14(c) certificates which allow them to pay disabled people below both the federal and their state’s minimum wage. A US Government Accountability Office report found that most 14(c) workers earn less than $3.50 an hour. 

The US Department of Labor is currently reviewing the 14(c) certificate program, but it is not clear if they will end the subminimum wage. A list of companies with 14c certificates can be found here. 

In a recent Teen Vogue article, disabled journalist John Loeppky asked people to question what purpose 14(c) certificates serve—especially because the certificates are often given to workplaces that separate disabled people from other workers:

How To Choose the Best Wheelchair Cushion for You

By Seth McBride: Click through for the full post…

What type of cushion to use is one of the most important decisions you make when setting up your wheelchair. The right cushion can keep your skin safe, improve your posture and enhance your stability. The wrong cushion can lead to pressure injuries, spasticity and pain.

Cushions come in all different types, from foam, to air, gel, honeycomb, custom and more. So which is the best for you? Like with most mobility aids, the best wheelchair cushion depends on your body, your level of mobility and your daily life. Here are nine things to consider when getting your next everyday wheelchair cushion.

Over-the-counter drug that reverses hearing loss nears clinical testing

by StudyFinds: Click through for the full post…

We’ve all experienced that ringing feeling in our ears after a loud concert or construction work. For some, the effects are temporary; for others, the hearing damage is permanent. Now, new research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has uncovered the molecular mechanism behind noise-induced hearing loss, pointing to possible treatment options. That includes a potentially game-changing over-the-counter medication that’s now under development.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh say they are testing a drug that has the potential to reverse hearing impairment due to loud noise and also offer protection against future damage.

The researchers identified that noise-induced hearing loss is a result of cellular damage in the inner ear, linked to an excess of free-floating zinc — a mineral crucial for cell function and hearing. They discovered that medications acting as molecular sponges to absorb excess zinc can either recover lost hearing or, when used preemptively, can safeguard against hearing loss.

“Noise-induced hearing loss impairs millions of lives but, because the biology of hearing loss is not fully understood, preventing hearing loss has been an ongoing challenge,” says Professor Thanos Tzounopoulos from the Pittsburgh Hearing Research Center, in a media release.

This hidden Pixel feature turns your headphones into hearing aids — how to turn it on

By Nikita Achanta: Click through for the full post…

Hearing protection, hearing aid or sound booster.

The best Android phones always carry the latest accessibility features to ensure every person can use their smartphone to its full potential. Your Pixel phone has one such feature in a bid to help people around the world living with hearing loss. It’s called Sound Amplifier. If your Google Pixel is running Android 6.0 or higher, you may have noticed a green icon with an ear, but you may not have known what it does. The Sound Amplifier app can turn your earphones into makeshift hearing aids so that you can hear conversations better in noisy places. But that’s not all it can do, and this feature has the potential to be used for more than accessibility.

Whether you’re at a concert or a busy restaurant, this app can be very useful. Sound Amplifier basically allows you to customize frequencies to augment important sounds, such as a friend’s voice or the sound coming from your TV. You can emphasize foreground sounds and minimize background noise to ensure you’re only hearing what you want. 

Some people may have difficulty in telling when Sound Amplifier is detecting or enhancing sound, so the app comes with a handy audio visualizer that shows when sound is being detected and altered.

Switch-It Vigo Gives Power Wheelchair Users Wireless Head Control

By Michael Franz: Click through for the full post…

The new Switch-It Vigo head control from Sunrise Medical offers an intuitive, wireless way to operate power wheelchairs and other electronic devices.

Unlike traditional head control units that rely on sensors in the headrest to control the wheelchair, the Vigo is a wireless headset that responds when you tilt your head. Once turned on, the sensors built into the Vigo respond to the position you tilt your head and move the wheelchair in the intended direction. To stop the wheelchair, you return your head to the neutral position. The Vigo has built-in emergency stop features that will stop the wheelchair when the user’s head leaves the range set up during calibration, when fast and uncontrollable head movements are detected or if Bluetooth connection is lost. You can adjust each head movement control via app to suit your functional abilities and range of motion. The Vigo can also be used to control power seating functions like tilt and recline. It has a battery life of up to 14 hours per charge.

By switching modes on the Vigo, you can also use it as a controller for interacting with computers smart phones or tablets, or as a Bluetooth headset for receiving calls.

The Vigo is available from Sunrise Medical starting at $5,537. For more information, please visit Sunrise Medical.