Sailing can also help fight rare diseases.
Luca Sangiorgi, director of the rare skeletal diseases department of the Rizzoli Hospital, and the president of Uniamo, the Italian Federation of Rare Diseases, Annalisa Scopinaro, who presented the 'Ready to set sail' project, in collaboration with the Marinando association, are convinced of this.
"The pilot project will take place from 27 to 31 May" in Marina di Ravenna, explains Professor Sangiorgi, where the Marinando association has its own sailing center and where "it has set up two boats to accommodate patients with disabilities".
On board the patients will be at the helm, the sails and the winches.
"The first objective is to understand whether, thanks to this activity, the patients' self-esteem increases - continues Sangiorgi -. The second, thanks to the inertial sensors, is to evaluate what type of movements they will make on board and whether after this activity they will be of patients greater confidence in replicating them in everyday life. The third, more ambitious, objective is to understand whether rehabilitation can be done through sailing activity", adding it to gym activity.
Initially the trial, launched with funds from an international tender, will involve 8 patients but "we hope to soon be able to increase the number of participants, thanks to the Region", concludes Sangiorgi.
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