United Spinal Association has acquired online platform, AbleThrive, in a move designed to ensure people with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D) have greater access to resources and support.
Over the coming months, United Spinal and AbleThrive will combine their resources, information, and technology onto United Spinal’s website in order to create an extensive online support network for wheelchair users and other individuals with mobility disabilities.
This will add to United Spinal’s membership community that includes individuals with SCI/D, their family members, friends, and healthcare providers.
Abby Ross, United Spinal’s chief operating officer, said: “As we emerge from this pandemic, it’s vital that people living with SCI/D get the very best support to pursue greater independence. Bringing AbleThrive’s resources under United Spinal will allow us to help more people overcome the hurdles of living with disability.”
Since its founding in 2014, AbleThrive’s mission has been to leverage technology to connect people with SCI/D and their families to disability-specific support resources that were readily accessible online, but difficult to find and navigate.
Brittany Déjean, founder and CEO of AbleThrive, added: “We saw great potential in curating and organising relevant content on our website so that people didn’t have to spend hours scouring the internet on their own.
“I’m proud of what we have achieved over the last seven years with the support of our team and community, and as AbleThrive becomes a part of United Spinal’s robust resources and services, I’m excited to see how everything we built can have an even greater impact.”
AbleThrive has been shared as a tool in 15 spinal cord injury rehab centres in four countries.
