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Biomedical subjects

Shlomo Kessel

Publications and source records attributed to Shlomo Kessel.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Snoezelen: children with intellectual disability and working with the whole family.

Snoezelen, or controlled multisensory stimulation, was first introduced in Israel in 1993. This paper presents a new concept of working with the whole family in the Snoezelen room with the participation of a social worker. The purpose was to facilitate family encounters with the child, to enable parents and siblings to become better acquainted with the resident through his/her strengths and special abilities, to encourage parental involvement in the care, to encourage increased visits, to improve quality of life (QOL) for the resident, and to reinforce a better relationship between resident, family, and home. Sessions were divided into two major parts. The first segment (duration 20-40 min) was free activity and the second was more structured (duration 15-30 min). Case stories are presented to illustrate the positive effects of this approach. Snoezelen can be used with the entire family with the participation of a social worker and can add new dimensions to communication.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Physical fitness and functional ability of children with intellectual disability: effects of a short-term daily treadmill intervention.

Persons with intellectual disability (ID) and associated multiple disabilities have been found by many researchers to be a population with deficient physical fitness measures, which can be explained by an inactive lifestyle, a result of lack of awareness of the positive physical effects of physical exercise, or lack of motivation for any motor activity. Various plans for physical exercise have been put forward, but many are found impractical in nonresearch-based intervention. In this study, 15 children with ID on a motor functioning level of 7-14 months used a treadmill daily for 2 months. Our findings indicated a most significant improvement in the level of physical fitness of the participants (p < 0.005), as measured by pulse at rest and during effort. The improvement in physical fitness modestly (r = 0.5), but significantly (p < 0.05), correlated with a significant (p < 0.0007) improvement in functional ability of the participating children. Further examination a year after intervention terminated showed a return to preintervention pulse-at-rest values. The research examined the treadmill training method and found that it can be operated with the support of an unskilled staff person under the supervision of a physiotherapist. The research was performed under real-life conditions, enabling relatively easy implementation in the existing conditions of special education centers. This method is a type of exercise that is easy to operate without entailing long-term budgetary expenses and might improve the health status of children with ID, who are a population at risk for developing heart-related diseases at a young age.

Child↗
PubMed2004

A comparison between older persons with down syndrome and a control group: clinical characteristics, functional status and sensorimotor function.

The increase in life expectancy within the general population has resulted in an increasing number of elderly adults with intellectual disability, and this is reflected in the increased life expectancy in persons with Down syndrome, currently about 56 years. The aim of this study was to study the clinical characteristics, the functional status and sensori-motor function of 10 older persons with Down syndrome (mean age 59 years), 13 younger persons with Down syndrome (mean age 44 years) and compare them with 38 adults with intellectual disability without Down syndrome and a control group of people without intellectual disability. All the persons with Down syndrome and intellectual disability resided in two residential living centres in Israel, while the 31 older persons without intellectual disability (mean age 75 years), who served as the control group, lived in an independent living facility. The study considered demographic data, medical backgrounds, physical and functional tests. The results showed that the older persons with Down syndrome in the study were more obese, shorter and had more medical problems than both the older persons with intellectual disability and the control group. The functional performance of the older adults with Down syndrome was more impaired in comparison with both other groups. It is postulated that their slower responses may be explained by a less physically active lifestyle, that may accelerate the onset of disease, resulting in symptoms associated with aging that are detrimental to health.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Elderly persons with intellectual disability: a study of clinical characteristics, functional status, and sensory capacity.

Longer life expectancy is resulting in increasing numbers of elderly adults with intellectual disability (ID). There has been the question whether persons with ID demonstrate early signs of aging before the general population. The aim of this study was to determine if persons with ID (with and without Down syndrome) showed premature aging changes compared with a control group. Elderly persons (n = 24, average age of 61) from one residential care center in Israel and younger adults from another center (n = 37, average age of 45) were compared with elderly residents without ID in an independent living facility. The study considered demographic data, medical data, anthropometric measurements, body fat and body mass index, flexibility, and sensorimotor function tests. The results showed that the persons with ID had basically similar body composition to that of persons without ID, however, the functional performance of elderly adults with ID was more impaired. We postulate that the slower functioning responses may be explained by a less physically active lifestyle, that may accelerate the onset of disease and result in symptoms associated with aging that are detrimental to health. It is therefore important that persons with ID participate in physical activity and exercises in order to promote health and prevent disease.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Effects of a treadmill walking program on muscle strength and balance in elderly people with Down syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Longer life expectancy is resulting in increasing numbers of elderly adults with mental retardation. In elderly adults with Down syndrome (DS), the maintenance of muscle strength, endurance, and dynamic balance are important to ensure quality of life and functional independence. The objective of this study was to compare isokinetic leg strength and dynamic balance of aged mentally retarded individuals with DS (n = 16, mean age 63) before and after a treadmill walking program lasting 6 months in comparison with a nonwalking control group (n = 10) with similar physical characteristics. METHODS: Participants in the study undertook leg strength testing on a dynamometer. Parameters measured included peak torque, peak torque % body weight, and average power % body weight. A "timed get-up and go" functional test for dynamic balance was also analyzed and compared prior to and after the treadmill program. RESULTS: Knee extension and flexion isokinetic strength in elderly individuals with DS showed significant improvement after 6 months of treadmill training. Dynamic balance performance was also significantly improved (p <.05). CONCLUSIONS: Aged adults with DS can significantly improve muscle strength and balance by adopting suitable programs of treadmill walking.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Trends in school violence.

School violence has been a new research area since the 1980s, when Scandinavian and British researchers first focused on the subject. This violence has sometimes even resulted in murder. Since the late 1980s the World Health Organization (WHO) has conducted cross-national studies every fourth year on Health Behavior in School Aged Children (HBSC). Today 37 countries participate under the guidance of the WHO-European Office. The HBSC school-based survey is conducted with a nationally representative sample of 11, 13 and 15 year old school children in each country using a standard self-administrated questionnaire. The subject of bullying at school has been part of the questionnaire. Results from these surveys and studies in the United States and Israel are presented and it is hoped that the recent public debate and initiatives by the various government agencies will result in reduced school violence in the future.

Adolescent↗