The Amputee Coalition announced its officers and board of directors for 2012. Mahesh Mansukhani, president of Ossur Americas, will serve a 3-year term on the board of directors.
Returning to their positions on the board for another 1-year term are Marshall J. Cohen, chairman of the board; Pat Chelf, vice-chair; Dennis Strickland, vice-chair; Jeff Lutz, treasurer; and secretary Charles Steele, according to a press release. Leslie Pitt Schneider and Terrence Sheehan, MD are also both returning to the board.
Mansukhani, who received the Visionary Leadership Award at the Amputee Coalition’s 2011 National Conference, recently spearheaded the Well-Being Initiative, a nationwide program to help address the emotional needs of those with limb loss. Mansukhani, the Amputee Coalition and Ossur are implementing the program along with Johns Hopkins University. The program will launch later this year.
“While research has shown that a large number of people with limb loss experience depression or other forms of psychological distress, today’s standards of care often leave amputees’ mental health needs unaddressed,” Kendra Calhoun, president and chief executive officer of the Amputee Coalition, stated in the release. “The Ossur/Amputee Coalition emotional Well-Being Initiative is providing important training and educational resources to enable prosthetists to take a more active role in enhancing their patients’ emotional well-being and resilience.”
