For Levana Ratzon, life as she knew it came to a crashing halt following a serious car accident that left her with critical injuries.  Following a long period of hospitalization and rehabilitation at Tel HaShomer Hospital, she needed to make some major decisions. Outpatient rehab would be a part of her new life now for a long while, as she learned to regain basic abilities and functions.  And the therapists at Tel Hashomer were quality professionals with whom she had built a painstaking relationship over the past few months.  But as a resident of Merhavim in Israel’s Negev, Levana’s home is located some 100 kilometers away from the hospital.  How could she continue intensive rehabilitation without turning her family’s life upside down for months on end?

Thanks to the innovative rehabilitation center at ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran, Levana has been able to continue rehabilitation from the comfort of her own home while making use of the state-of-the-art facilities at ADI Negev a mere few minutes’ distance away.

And it’s a good thing she can, because the importance of good rehabilitation cannot be overstated. In fact, it is what spells the difference between a life of utter dependence and never-ending treatments, and a normative life of independence regained.

Before the advent of the ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran Rehabilitation Center, Israel’s southern population had no recourse but to travel inordinately long distances to facilities in the center of the country – or, sadly, to forego desperately-needed treatments. The opening of ADI Negev’s Rehabilitation Center was the answer to the needs of hundreds of residents of the Negev. The multidisciplinary rehabilitation therapies apply cutting-edge technologies to help victims of stroke, illness, vehicle and work-related accents. The Center boasts a hydrotherapy pool, therapeutic horseback riding, physical therapy, occupational therapy, rehabilitation psychology, vocational opportunities, communication therapy, and more.

Pinpointing the specific needs of the individual, the staff applies the latest technologies and methods and has pioneered the new “Remote-Control Rehabilitation” technology, advancing Israel and ADI Negev to the forefront of the field of rehabilitation. Remote Rehabilitation enables residents from Israel’s southern region to continue their rehabilitation treatments close to home, under the long-distance care of some of the finest of Israel’s medical and therapy experts who practice in the center of the country.

Featured recently on Channel Two News, “Remote-Control Rehabilitation” shows Levana at ADI Negev’s Rehabilitation Center, following instructions from her physiotherapist in Tel Hashomer hospital in real time – via computer technology.

What distinguishes the ADI Negev Rehabilitation Center from other treatment facilities is its unique location in a village for people with severe multiple disabilities. The outstanding integration of ADI Negev Rehabilitation Village residents – all of whom are intellectually and physically disabled – with trauma victims from Israel’s Negev region is an integral part of the vision of the Village in its quest toward Tikkun Olam. This realized dream of social change, of a community where people currently on a course of rehabilitation learn to love and respect those with limitations and disabilities, in an atmosphere of mutual responsibility and concern – is the embodiment of the age-old Jewish dictum, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

See the Channel 2 News segment here:

(please note our feature starts at the :20 mark)