RAISE – Research and Assistance for Infants to Support Experience is a project promoted by C.O.ME. Foundation. Collaboration ONLUS, aimed at promoting health in children, through a multidisciplinary therapeutic approach, which includes osteopathic manipulative treatment. 
RAISE employs skilled professionals to offer a robust clinical, scientific and wellbeing complementary approach to care in the fields of neonatalogy and pediatrics. Furthermore, the project undertakes research to produce robust scientific evidence concerning the effect of osteopathic manipulative treatment in infants and children.
Premature babies can be defined as the smallest among the little ones.
Statistically, in Italy about 13 million babies are born pre-term, i.e. before the 37th week of gestation.
This equals to 40 thousand children only in our country: 6.9%.
The vulnerable: these children are affected by moderate to severe disability, and under the age of 14, 1 out of 20 is disabled. In developing countries, children with disabilities can be defined as the last among the last ones.
These figures depict definitions but also circumstances – and entire lives – shared by many Italian families whom, after a first response of surprise, worry and helplessness, must face choices, organize and “restructure” their lives considering the needs of the newborn.
Unexpected.
Unknown.
Many people do not know that osteopathic treatment is a possible tool to provide support to the management of disabled people
The path followed by RAISE is not limited to welfare, social and medical issues.
RAISE is clinical help provided to children and their families by professionals collaborating in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary environment, in pursuit of a common purpose: to promote and achieve the well-being of children, from birth to adolescence, in its bio-psycho-social complexity.
RAISE it is the tool that accompanies families and their children in the pursuit of a higher quality of life.
This project aims to promote health in children through a multidisciplinary therapeutic approach, which includes osteopathic manipulative treatment. By providing a robust clinical, scientific and welfare complementary approach to care in the fields of neonatology and pediatrics, it can produce robust scientific evidence about the effectiveness of osteopathic manipulative treatment on young patients with disabilities.
The value of RAISE: not only research, nor only volunteering, nor only support, nor only hospital-based solutions.
An enlarged, multidimensional and multicolored project, just as a child's smile.
This project is not restricted to managing/healing/studying/organizing a specific and limited aspect of a problem and its consequences, but rather orchestrates a global path, including research, clinical activity, promotion of wellbeing in the fields of neonatology and pediatrics, extending both to the hospital environment and to the associations, involving medical staff, families, volunteers, researchers.
Osteopathy belongs to the complementary and alternative medicines (CAM).
What does it do?
In order to treat certain clinical problems or diseases, it uses "touch", i.e. manual contact.
Osteopathy has already demonstrated to be invaluable in the fields of neonatology and pediatrics (for example to alleviate the dreaded gut colics, but also to treat scoliosis and cranial dysmorphisms).
Scientific evidence has already shown that, to the advantage of both families and the national health system – having the task to optimize care while maintaining control over spending - osteopathy allows to reduce the length of stay of prematurely born children, therefore also reducing health care costs.
"Touch" is a full-fledged line of care, administered by professionals.
There is good evidence that osteopathic treatment applied to premature babies in hospitals' NICUs starting from their first days of life stimulates newborns senses and therefore improves their clinical condition.
In the perinatal period, neurological development is fast: all interactions through touch, as well as the proximity between newborns, and between newborns and their caregivers positively affect the child’s life, not only on the short term (weight gain, brain and sight development), but also in the long term.
RAISE also follows the development process by collaborating within Associations and Foundations for children and teenagers with disabilities who need "touch" as a support for a better quality of life.
These “warriors” have to face difficult challenges, such as surgery, and bear the scars of respiratory and cardiac crises.
To fight with them, providing effective tools, is a must.
This is why we continue to study and are constantly engaged in research.
Sepsso questi guerrieri sono destinati a incontrare importanti prove, come interventi chirurgici, crisi respiratorie e cardiache, non senza conseguenze.
Combattere al loro fianco, con strumenti efficaci, è doveroso.
Per questo continuiamo a studiare e siamo con costanza impegnati nella ricerca.
What is the result of osteopathic treatment? Not only a shorter stay in the NICU, but also positive effects on newborns, such as a faster weight gain, and benefits on their neurocognitive development.
Only a mother and a father who have gone through such an experience can understand their great expectation of finally being allowed, after many long days, to take their child home, in their "real nest".
Speeding up this event is one of our major accomplishments.
Equally important is the positive impact on health care costs, the increase in hospital turn-over, better management of the family-work balance.
Currently there are 13 hospitals, both public and private, that allow for the multidisciplinary RAISE treatment which unfolds through the collaboration between neonatologists, osteopaths, physiotherapists, nurses, and families.
Other important hospitals interested in this project are setting up their participation.
Children born before the 37th week of gestation or with disabilities are affected by various frailties or pathologies. Upon hospital discharge, parents may feel lost; they have to quickly develop a way to manage new problems or face unprecedented situations.
RAISE offers support based on the evidence that results can be achieved even when "you are already grown up".
Osteopathic treatments, for example, contribute to improvements in health care provision and improve motor and cognitive development in children. From a broader impact perspective, they reduce health costs also in this case, while a further impact on educational costs is under assessment (for example, presence of teacher's assistants and learning support staff). Importantly, the child benefits in terms of their social behavior, and relationships with others, thus improving social integration.
In short: better quality of life.
We believe that osteopathic practice can best integrate into conventional health care.
We provide a multidisciplinary team work (thanks to collaborations established between researchers, clinicians, patients and partners), and we carry out high quality scientific research.
Why is our research project unique in the world?
- Because it is, in fact, research. Therefore, it produces measured and measurable outcomes to be shared with the international scientific community.
2. Because it pursues the WHO objectives for 2035 (improvement of quality of life in premature infants).
3. Because it is not aprioristically defined but holds hands with the little ones and their parents and does not abandon them.
Our MANIFESTO, summarized in 4 points:
- We want to reduce the number of days that premature or disabled infants spend in hospital
- We want to boost post-hospital assistance
- We want that better and accessible treatments are available to all families
- We want families and society to be aware of the importance of the possible aids available to both prematures and teenagers.
RAISE aims to support and improve the important process of integration and enhancement of the potential of premature or disabled children. It endeavours to provide the benefits of osteopathy and of a multidisciplinary approach to a growing number of patients. Help is needed to better achieve this result, such as actions to:
- SUPPORT RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN OSTEOPATHY:
we administer the "affective touch" and can teach it to volunteers, so that they can help premature babies during their stay in the hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Units. - EXPAND AWARENESS IN FAMILIES: we support families with tutorship and help in the management of daily life, in collaboration with volunteers
- EXPAND THE AWARENESS IN PEDIATRICIANS AND FAMILY DOCTORS: we can create a virtuous circle of information and communications about the healing function of "touch"
- EXTEND THE HOSPITAL AND ASSOCIATION NETWORK through which we can offer treatments: we work to measure and document the clinical and social effects of this project. Professionalism, interdisciplinary collaboration, specialization and global dissemination characterize the working strategy of RAISE, and are unique features that will allow the project to become a reference for families, foundations and patients' associations
About C.O.ME. www.comecollaboration.org
C.O.ME. Collaboration Onlus Foundation was established in mid-2014 with assets entirely devoted to scientific research and was given legal status by Pescara Prefecture.
The Foundation is registered with the lists provided by DPCM on October 12, 2016 as specified by the annual review of DPCM of May 8, 2007 (Italian OJ 16/11/16, 268 and 13/12/16, 290) C.O.ME. is an over-institutional, independent institution that cooperates with institutions, companies, public and private agencies, respecting the high quality of projects.
Its mission is to promote the integration of osteopathic practice in conventional medicine through scientific research.
The Foundation features an interdisciplinary team aiming to produce scientific evidence useful for optimizing health services and clinical practice, improving training, developing new technologies and promoting projects having a massive impact in the social sphere.
C.O.ME. strives to ensure multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teamwork, involving an international community eager to share, cooperate, support, compare, participate and develop research activities.
C.O.ME. projects are unique because of the teams' dynamism and flexibility, aspiring to reach a common purpose: the achievement of the wellbeing of persons in their bio-psycho-social complexity, thus overcoming the paradigm only based on the assessment of clinical aspects.
TAX RELIEFS – for donations to scientific research
Any contribution made to C.O.ME. COLLABORATION ONLUS by a legal entity it is fully deductible from the income tax (deducted from the amount of taxable income).
As concerns tax benefits for contributors to scientific research, there is an "ad hoc" regulation for the Foundations such as C.O.ME. COLLABORATION ONLUS with legal personality acquired through the recognition obtained by registration in the list of legal entities established at the Prefectures (Italian Presidential Decree No. 361/2000) and conducting or promoting scientific research activities as a statutory purpose.
If the Foundation receives donations from a company or other legal entities to fund scientific research, the following law article applies.
Article 1, paragraph 353, of the 2006 Italian Financial Law, provides that the companies and other IRES (corporate income tax) taxpayers may wholly deduct from their income any funds transferred for research funding, as a contribution or donation, in favor, inter alia, of foundations and associations regularly recognized, having the development or the promotion of scientific research activities in their statutory purpose, as specified by the DPCM.
What it is
Osteopathy is a non-invasive, drugless manual medicine, classified in the list of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). It is based on manual contact for diagnosis and treatment. It respects the relationships between body, mind and spirit, both in health and illness; it stresses the importance of a structural and functional integrity within the body, as well as recognizing the intrinsic tendency of the body to self-healing.
This holistic approach to the care and healing of patients is based on the idea that a human being represents a dynamic functional unit, in which all parts are interconnected through their own mechanisms of self-regulation and self-healing.
Osteopathy for Children
The clinical application of osteopathy in pediatrics and neonatology has gained a growing relevance over time. There are many opportunities to treat various pediatric diseases and/or paraphysiological conditions, for example:
• cranial dysmorphism
• intestinal colics
• gastroesophageal reflux
• scoliosis
• delays in neuromotor development within pharmacological optimization.
An important feature of osteopathic treatment is the absence of iatrogenic effects, i.e. adverse events.
Results
The administration of osteopathy has led to shorten the length of stay of premature babies and to cut healthcare costs.
RAISE aims to produce evidence, also shedding light on the biological, neurological and child health effects linked to short, medium and long-term effects of the osteopathic treatment on premature or disabled children to improve their health and growth.
RAISE also endeavours to underline the importance of the role of osteopathy within a multidisciplinary team.