The Kessler Foundation, established in 1985, is a public charity in the United States supporting people with

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

. Kessler Foundation has its roots in the Kessler Institute, founded in 1949 to improve medical outcomes and employment of people disabled by brain or spinal injury. Kessler Foundation conducts rehabilitation research with the goal of increasing function for cognition, mobility, and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation has also distributed millions of dollars to programs that promote the employment of people with disabilities through its Community Employment grants. Kessler Foundation has a full-time staff of 90 individuals, divided between two locations in West Orange, NJ.

History

In 1949,

Henry H. Kessler Henry Howard Kessler (April 10, 1896 – January 18, 1978) was an American physician, surgeon, and pioneer in rehabilitation medicine and orthopedic surgery. He focused on treating the whole person, rather than just the physical ailment. He found ...

, MD, founded the

Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation is a division of the Select Medical Corporation that provides physical medicine and rehabilitation programs and services. There are currently three inpatient rehabilitation facilities located throughout New Jer ...

, a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

seeking to improve the quality of life for people with

physical disabilities A physical disability is a limitation on a person's physical functioning, mobility, dexterity or stamina. Other physical disability, disabilities include impairments which limit other facets of daily living skills, daily living, such as respiratory ...

. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Kessler Institute served disabled veterans and used skills that Kessler developed as a captain in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

serving in the

Pacific Ocean theater of World War II The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

helping

handicapped Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

civilians. In August 2003, Kessler Foundation sold

Select Medical Corporation Select Medical is a healthcare company based in Pennsylvania. It owns long-term acute care and inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, as well as occupational health and physical therapy clinics. Select Medical is a subsidiary of Select Medical Hold ...

. In 2007, Kessler Foundation merged with the Kessler Medical Rehabilitation and Research and Education Corporation. In 2008, the organization co-sponsored the International Conference on Behavioral Health and Traumatic Brain Injury focusing on addressing injuries of Iraq War soldiers.

Research

Kessler Foundation's research division is called Kessler Foundation Research Center. It includes 90 staff members who work in such research areas as

neuropsychology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology often focus on how injuries or illnesses of t ...

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

, outcomes assessment, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke,

rehabilitation engineering Rehabilitation engineering is the systematic application of engineering sciences to design, develop, adapt, test, evaluate, apply, and distribute technological solutions to problems confronted by individuals with disabilities. These individuals ...

gait analysis Gait analysis is the systematic study of animal locomotion, more specifically the study of human motion, using the eye and the brain of observers, augmented by instrumentation for measuring body movements, body mechanics, and the activity of the ...

and

motor control Motor control is the regulation of movement in organisms that possess a nervous system. Motor control includes reflexes as well as directed movement. To control movement, the nervous system must integrate multimodal sensory information (both f ...

Programs

Think First

Kessler Foundation's "Think First" is a community health education program presented to New Jersey school children in grades K-12. The program serves to educate children and teens about safety and injury prevention and promotes greater respect for people with disabilities. The information is presented by a survivor of spinal cord injury who delivers safety messages and shares his or her personal experiences. The program is the state chapter of a national "Think First" network.

Wheelblazers

WheelBlazers is a

wheelchair racing Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

team for individuals with physical disabilities. The team gives participants the opportunity to be a part of a competitive, organized sports team. Throughout the summer and fall the team practices regularly and participants in regional races.

Grants

Kessler Foundation distributes external grants. In 2008 and 2009, Kessler Foundation granted about $500,000 to the Arthur & Friends project, which trains developmentally disabled workers in how to grow produce in hydroponic greenhouses. In 2018, the grantmaking division of Kessler Foundation provided $2,186,673 in direct grants to various organizations. In 2019, it provided $2,689,734. In 2021, Kessler Foundation funded a cafe in Woodbridge, NJ, that trains young adults with special needs in food service industry work. The Community Employment Grant program supports projects, programs, pilot initiatives, and creative solutions that work toward improving the employment and career advancement of New Jersey citizens with disabilities. Grants are for one year and range from $25,000 to $50,000 each.

Sponsorships

Kessler Foundation sponsors the Telecommuting Pilot Project with $438,687. Run by the Jewish Vocational Service (JVS), the program matches individuals with severe physical disabilities who can work from their homes with employers who need services and support. More than 25 individuals have undergone job and vocational placement assessment and have received vocational counseling and technical support as well as job placement assistance. On October 12–15, 2008, Kessler Foundation co-sponsored the International Conference on Behavioral Health and Traumatic Brain Injury hosted by St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center. The conference brought together medical and behavioral health experts from around the world to address the challenges of rehabilitating Iraqi war veterans with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. Attendees included experts in medicine, psychology,

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

and

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

from the U.S., Europe and South America. The conference's objective is to formulate a report for Congress outlining steps the government should take to respond to the needs of individuals suffering from

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

and traumatic brain injury.Superville, Denisa (10 June 2008). "Conference to focus on brain injury; St. Joseph's will be host." The Record.

Books

Kessler, Dr. Henry H. Kessler (1968) ''The Knife is Not Enough.'' New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

References

External links

- Kessler Foundation

- Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Center
{{Authority control Medical and health foundations in the United States Charities based in New Jersey