Organising association: Convives con Espasticidad.
Collaborating organisations: Ramon Molinas Foundation and Universidad Europea de Madrid.
Implementation schedule: 15/10/2014 – 15/10/2015.
News Convives, a project that provides useful information to those affected by spasticity with a view to improving their quality of life
News Convives is the first electronic bulletin specialised in spasticity. The Ramon Molinas Foundation is collaborating with the association Convives con Espasticidad with the aim of implementing a publication designed to provide information related to this pathology in order to improve the quality of life of the people affected by it and their families.
Released on a monthly basis, the electronic bulletin will be a space for neurologists, physiotherapists and people living with spasticity to share knowledge, professional opinions, experiences and latest developments with rigour, proximity and accessible and comprehensible language. News Convives contains scientific, medical, social, health and quality of life articles. Likewise, there will also be space for the publication of events related to spasticity and the pathologies in which it appears.
Those interested in receiving the bulletin can sign up at no charge on the web page of Convives con Espasticidad. Once you have signed up, you will receive the publication in your mailbox.
Convives con Espasticidad, an organisation that protects the wellbeing of people suffering from spasticity
Created in 2008, Convives con Espasticidad is a non-profit organisation that fosters the personal autonomy, training and social integration of people suffering from spasticity, through the benefits provided by information and communication technologies. The association was founded with the aim of creating a virtual platform that would gather all the information on this pathology to make it available to affected people, their families and to specialists. Furthermore, Convives con Espasticidad collaborates to improve the treatment of spasticity.
Convives con Espasticidad, in collaboration with the National Distance Education University (UNED), published the first comprehensive guide for people with spasticity in Spain. This document provides useful information so that all those involved can consult it. The guide was put together by a multidisciplinary team of professionals from the social, health and education fields, among others, and contains testimonials of people living with this pathology.
Convives con Espasticidad operates in Spain but reaches all Spanish-speaking countries via its web page.
Spasticity affects between 300,000 and 400,000 people in Spain
Spasticity is a motor disorder associated with multiple diseases and disabilities. It is an alteration of the central nervous system which causes the involuntary and persistent contraction of the affected muscles. This symptomatology may be present in people of all ages and in many pathologies, some of which are congenital, such as for example spina bifida, and others which are unforeseen, such as traumatic brain injuries or strokes.
Although this pathology cannot be cured, specific treatments can be used. To alleviate its effects and to avoid deterioration in health the intervention of a multidisciplinary team composed of a neurologist, a neurosurgeon, an orthopaedic surgeon and a physiotherapist, among others, is essential.
According to the Guide of Comprehensive Treatment of Spasticity, published by the Spanish Spasticity Association, in Spain there are between 300,000 and 400,000 people affected, taking into account only the first five main pathologies (stroke, traumatic brain injuries, medullar injuries, multiple sclerosis and infantile cerebral palsy). Furthermore, the World Health Organisation (WHO) considers spasticity to be a serious socio-sanitary problem both on account of the number of people affected and the consequences and repercussions.
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