Allowing Stroke Victims to Hug Again

Kevin had a stroke eight years ago. As a result, he was unable to hug his grandchildren. His daughter, Emily, challenged her Occupational Therapy students to come up with a solution so he could hug his grandchildren again.

Watch this video of Kevin as he gets to hug his grandchildren again! Helping people like Kevin is why we are selling this product.

Instructional Video

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The History Behind “HugAgain”

As part of the Occupational Therapy Assistant program at Arkansas State University-Jonesboro, we were asked to design and construct a piece of adaptive equipment for a real-life client. During class, we interviewed our professor’s father using Facetime, asking questions concerning his life history, the stroke he endured in 2014, and what things he missed doing most due to his hemiplegic arm that was the result of the stroke.

We were touched by his sweet demeanor and enjoyed getting to know him. Our group, including Lisa, Casey, Larissa and I (Erica) went to the library after class to begin brainstorming ideas for adaptive equipment that would allow this man to perform a task that was difficult or impossible to do after the stroke.

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapy helps individuals regain the means to do the things that are the most important to them, things that give purpose to their lives. The misconception of the word occupation is that it only means employment. However, occupations are anything that fill your time throughout the day, or any activity that is meaningful to you. That is why Occupational Therapy is so vital: if someone becomes injured, or is affected by sickness or disease, we can help that person find ways of adapting themselves or their environment so they can return to the meaningful activities of their lives.

It is our hope and desire that this product will be a blessing to many and bring much joy back to those who just want to hold their loved ones in their arms again.