Baltimore, MD – Today, June 9, 2021, Burnalong, the world’s leading health and wellness and social motivation platform, announced a partnership with Atlanta-based Shepherd Center, the world-renowned private hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, spine and chronic pain, and other neuromuscular conditions. The organizations are collaborating to create and distribute world-class, specialty programming available to anyone globally, for the first time, via the Burnalong platform.
Through this partnership, Shepherd Center will connect Burnalong to Shepherd clinicians, therapists and wellness professionals who will provide video classes for people with the neurological conditions that Shepherd treats. This content will be uploaded and hosted on Burnalong’s platform, available to Shepherd patients along with Burnalong users and their families. In addition, Burnalong and Shepherd will work together on clinical studies evaluating the outcomes of the programming and partnership to help improve care.
There are nearly 18,000 cases of spinal cord injury in the United States every year with a global estimated range of between 250,000 and 500,000 people who sustain a spinal cord injury. Across the world, every year, there are 69 million reported cases of traumatic brain injuries, which frequently require rehabilitation. Another 14 million people across the world are affected by neuromuscular disease. Further, NCBI reports an increase of 8% YOY in the number of cases of neuromuscular diseases with the most notable increase in adults 18-39 years old.
Access to rehabilitation and specialty classes varies, however, across the globe. Thus, with this announcement, Burnalong and Shepherd Center will extend support for patients and their families with groundbreaking programming available through the Burnalong platform.
“At Shepherd Center, part of our mission is to conduct research and develop innovative solutions and treatments to help people with a temporary or permanent disability caused by injury or disease,” says Dr. Deborah Backus, PT, PhD, FACRM, at Shepherd Center. “One way we provide support to patients is through specialty classes that will aid in rehabilitation once a patient, and their family, have returned home. Our partnership with Burnalong will extend Shepherd’s expertise to support the independence and wellness of people with injuries and disabilities across the globe.”
“Burnalong is committed to offering programming that is diverse and accessible regardless of ability, race, chronic condition, locality, age, family status and gender,” says Daniel Freedman, co-CEO of Burnalong. “Moreover, we are committed to supporting whole families so that wellness journeys can be experienced by everyone in the home, together on one platform. Our partnership with Shepherd Center will open up a whole new category of specialized classes to Burnalong customers and people globally so that we can support the wellness of people with spinal cord injuries and neuromuscular disorders.”
ABOUT Burnalong
Burnalong (www.Burnalong.com) is an online health, wellness and fitness platform that works with leading employers, insurers, municipalities, non-profits, and health systems who provide Burnalong for their employees, members, and patients. Burnalong helps people achieve their health and wellness goals by giving them unparalleled access to more than 1,000+ instructors, teaching live and on-demand wellness classes across more than 45 categories – from traditional fitness to nutrition, financial wellness, adaptive workouts, chronic conditions, and more – for the entire family. People can take classes alone or live with others where they can see and hear each other for added social motivation.
ABOUT SHEPHERD CENTER
Shepherd Center, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is a private, not-for-profit hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, spine and chronic pain, and other neuromuscular conditions. Founded in 1975, Shepherd Center is ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the nation. In its more than four decades, Shepherd Center has grown from a six-bed rehabilitation unit to a world-renowned, 152-bed hospital that treats more than 935 inpatients, 541 day program patients and more than 7,300 outpatients each year.
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Annika Mitic
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