"Deaf Off Drugs and Alcohol" Counseling Program at Wright State University Chooses Nefsis Cloud-Based Video Conferencing

SAN DIEGO, June 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Online services innovator Nefsis® announced today that Wright State University has implemented its "Deaf Off Drugs and Alcohol" (DODA) long distance treatment counseling using the Nefsis global, cloud-based HD video conferencing service. DODA is a grant-funded project to improve alcohol and drug treatment services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. DODA counselors, case managers, and coordinators are all American Sign Language-fluent and knowledgeable about deaf culture.

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Nefsis online meetings connect counselors to patients, who are dispersed across the country, via high-definition video conferencing so they can see the signers on-screen. Nefsis automatically secures the video conference with end-to-end encryption that helps covered entities like DODA comply with HIPAA.

With the ease-of-use of browsing the Web, the Nefsis video conferencing cloud provides all the resources necessary for multipoint video mixing, firewall and proxy traversal for desktops, and live collaboration tools. To get the same functionality prior to cloud computing required heavy investment in proprietary infrastructure equipment including video routers, multichannel units, and gateway servers.

Most deaf people have video phones, but that technology limits the program's counseling reach and does not provide access to the group counseling, education and peer support that are crucial to recovery.

"One of the most important parts of treatment is communication. The DODA team chose Nefsis video conferencing for its ease of use, multi-user capabilities, and high-quality video, which deaf people rely on for effective communication with their treatment providers," said Susan Fraker, director of DODA.

For all of the Ohio patients in their program, DODA uses Nefsis to offer weekly group counseling sessions with a counselor who is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). On average, patients are located about 140 miles away from the DODA center, helping to keep them in their communities.  With Nefsis video conferencing, DODA also offers online peer mentoring in 12-step meetings for Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. The main office sets the meeting times, and the Deaf Recovery Community leads the online meetings, which have become an ASL opportunity for deaf and hard-of-hearing people in recovery anywhere in the country.

DODA has taken Nefsis and video conferencing beyond the core recovery program to offer resources to many people they could not otherwise have served, including meetings with community partners all over Ohio and the U.S. DODA's unlimited reach has helped it to grow, as restrictions on manpower, time, and travel have fallen away. The fiscal benefit for the program compounds every year.

For more information about the DODA program at Wright State University, visit: http://www.med.wright.edu/citar/sardi/doda

About Nefsis

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Nefsis is a technology specialist in video conferencing software and cloud computing online services. The Company's global cloud provides multipoint HD video and advanced collaboration tools to business, government and educational customers in more than 45 countries worldwide. As compared to previous generations of infrastructure hardware solutions such as video routers, MCUs and gateways, the Nefsis cloud-based offering is less expensive, automatically maintained, and easier to expand. For more information or a free 14-day trial of Nefsis Professional, please visit http://www.Nefsis.com or call +1 (858) 715-0970 in the Americas or +44 (0) 870 224 0415 in the UK and Europe.

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SOURCE Nefsis