Human Study is a school of Rehabilitation Sciences.
We train Prosthetist/Orthotists: rehabilitation specialists who make and fit prosthetic limbs and orthotic braces. As a result of our work, people who have been disabled by war, poverty or disease have the chance to walk again, work again, go to school again, play and socialize again: to live again.
We do things differently.
Unlike most schools, our students don’t come to us. Because they can’t. We take our training to our students. Wherever there is a need.
We have developed a unique, innovative blended learning program for countries where there is an urgent need, low capacity and lack of infrastructure.
We deliver our training in war zones, where people are losing limbs to landmines, bombs and bullets. In areas recovering from disasters, whether natural or man-made. In low income countries, where lack of healthcare leaves people with disabilities vulnerable to disease and trapped in the cycle of poverty.
Wherever there is a need, Human Study is ready to respond: educating the technicians and rehabilitation specialists and training the trainers, to internationally accredited standards. Building the foundation for sustainable, locally-run rehabilitation services. Enabling people with disability to get mobile, so they can live healthy, active, independent lives.
Worldwide, there are an estimated 40 million people with disabilities who need prosthetic and orthotic services. 30 million of these people – including 10 million children – live in countries affected by conflict and poverty.
People who use prosthetics and orthotics include amputees who have lost limbs as a result of conflict, accidents, disasters or disease; people born with missing limbs; and people who need support as a result of injury, aging, or conditions such as scoliosis, polio and cerebral palsy.
These figures are set to rise, due to our aging population, the prevalence of diseases such as diabetes, and the increasing number of conflicts in the world. Ukraine, for example, is now the most landmine-polluted country on Earth.
Today in the Global South, only 1 in 10 people with disabilities has access to the prosthetic and orthotic services they need.
In the low income and conflict-affected countries where we work, there are many barriers preventing people from accessing rehabilitation services, including lack of trained personnel, lack of facilities and lack of awareness.
The result: people with disabilities are isolated, stigmatized and dependent. Unable to access their fundamental rights to education, employment and healthcare. Unable to participate in family and community life. Trapped in the cycle of poverty.
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Togo, March 2024: Anarème Kpandressi from Ecole Nationale des Auxiliaires Médicaux (ENAM) and Human Study’s Chris Schlierf sign a Memorandum of Understanding. Anarem is a former Bachelor’s degree graduate of Human Study and we are delighted to be working together to develop P&O training in Togo.
Ukraine, June 2024: we held an onsite practical training workshop in upper limb prosthetics as part of our educational program for Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals, funded by GIZ. This cohort is one of four that we are currently training in Ukraine, covering lower limb prosthetics and general training for newcomers to the P&O field.
Sierra Leone, May 2024: we delivered a practical workshop for the country’s first cohort of prosthetics and orthotics students training to international (ISPO) standards. Together with our partner MIT, we are developing P&O capacities to improve access to rehabilitation services all over the country, including training one trainer to Bachelor’s degree level with our cohort in Ghana.
