Training in assessment of personal injury based on biomechanical analysis to improve sustainability and efficacy of the health care system Erasmus Project

Project Title

Training in assessment of personal injury based on biomechanical analysis to improve sustainability and efficacy of the health care system

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Home and justice affairs (human rights & rule of law); Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

The “AREYOUFINE?” Project offers an innovative course on biomechanical analysis techniques aimed at bodily harm assessment, taking into account the different laws and conditions established in various European countries.
Bodily injury is defined as the result of aggression, exogenous or endogenous, in any area of the body. There are different manifestations of bodily harm, but one of the most important are musculoskeletal disorders, which represent the most frequent complaints reported in health surveys in Europe. These disorders present a great variety of names, which reflect the diversity of opinions and the lack of consensus regarding their origin and treatments. Musculoskeletal injuries are very common in industrialized countries and have very important consequences for the individual and society. In fact, 50% of the European population has reported musculoskeletal pain in one or more points of the body during the last year.
Many of these lesions have a non-specific origin or it is not possible to find an organic alteration that justifies them. Very often conventional diagnostic techniques do not show apparent lesions at the organic level. This situation forces doctors to work in uncertain situations. The absence of objective tools to help clinicians in the determination of real body damage of patients, produces, in some cases, incorrect evaluations and inappropriate treatments, with a negative impact on public health systems and patients.
Biomechanics offers a new approach to obtain objective, quantitative and homogeneous data to improve personal injury assessment procedures. Biomechanics is based on the knowledge of mechanics, engineering, anatomy and physiology to study the behavior of the human body, analyzing the movements of the segments of the body, the restrictions of the joints and muscle strength. Biomechanics allows a better understanding of the relationship between the medical results and the actual functional state of the patient’s body in order to corroborate their clinical hypothesis. However, despite the fact that biomechanics has proven its usefulness; it has not grown at the same speed in all European countries. This fact is due to the fact that biomechanics must be applied taking into account the legal framework and the regulatory system of each country, because it has legal consequences.
In the course “AREYOUFINE?”, The requirements of the target group of professionals to whom it is addressed have been taken into account, new contents of legislative harmonization have been proposed and adapted to the realities of the EU countries. The course is aimed at lawyers, doctors of different specialties (forensics, rehabilitators, traumatologists, etc.), physiotherapists, nurses, specialists in sports sciences, etc. The main results obtained are publicly offered in four languages: Spanish, Italian, Polish and English; for this, a web platform has been enabled in which they are openly available.
The “AREYOUFINE?” Project offers a high quality content and adjusted to the needs of the target group thanks to the complementary competences of the consortium participating in the project. On the one hand, the Institute of Biomechanics of Valencia (IBV) is a center of recognized prestige in the field of biomechanics and has been responsible for the coordination of the project and has contributed to the development of content on biomechanical techniques. The University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), expert center in forensic sciences, in legal medicine and pedagogical methodologies. CIOP-PIB (Central Institute for Labor Protection), specialist center in occupational health. SSSUP (Scuola Universitaria Superiore Pisa) is a European reference university in applied law in Legal Medicine. On the other hand, CEREDOC (European Confederation of Specialized in the Assessment and Compensation of Physical Injury) has provided the consortium with a direct connection with European professionals of evaluation of physical and personal damage. For its part, IALM (International Association of Legal Medicine) has guaranteed contact and dissemination of the results of the project to the European area of experts in legal medicine.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 184576 Eur

Project Coordinator

INSTITUTO DE BIOMECANICA DE VALENCIA & Country: ES

Project Partners

• CENTRALNY INSTYTUT OCHRONY PRACY – PANSTWOWY INSTYTUT BADAWCZY
• UNIVERSIDAD DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
• International Academy of Legal Medicine
• CEREDOC
• SCUOLA SUPERIORE DI STUDI UNIVERSITARI E DI PERFEZIONAMENTO SANT’ANNA