National Rehabilitation Awareness Weed was established to educate people about the benefits and impact of rehabilitating the nearly 50 million Americans with disabilities. Ken Leo, PT, MA, director of rehabilitation therapies at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, talks about what rehabilitation includes:
When we talk about rehabilitation, what services are offered at UI Hospitals and Clinics?
We offer services to help people become as functional as possible in their environment. This can range from the elite athlete who needs to function in the field of competition—football, basketball, whatever. The other end of that spectrum is probably the older individual who may have had a stroke or fractured hip and they want to be able to return home and function in a home environment. So we provide a large variety of services to all different ages and all different abilities. Again, the key is to help them improve their function in whatever environment they need to function in.
What is the role of the specialized staff in rehabilitation therapies?
We have seven specialties here at the hospital. We have:
I’ll just give you a quick overview about each one of these disciplines.
Child Life Specialists work with children to develop a normal, developmental sequence. They also help them cope with their disease and provide services to help the child get through different procedures. We found that if you entertain the child during procedures, the amount of anesthesia necessary is less and the speed at which the procedures get done is hastened by Child Life Specialists being involved.
Music therapists provide rehab services via the medium of music, and they help patients cope with their disease and also learn new techniques to help them in the rehab process.
Recreation therapists use the medium of recreation. They teach patients how to more effectively use their leisure time to cope with their disease.
Educational Services provides services to children who are unable to function in the public school system. We bring the kids into our school system and teach them the skills so hopefully they can return to the public school system.
Pulmonary Rehab works with patients with chronic lung disease. Many of these patients are unable to function in the home environment or the work environment, and by exercising appropriately, they can return to a more functional status in both those environments.
Occupational Therapy helps people with limitations to function more effectively in the home with activities of daily life.
Physical Therapists are involved with helping the patient mobilize, to get up out of bed and be able to get in and out of the house.
How do patients become involved in a rehabilitation program?
If you’re admitted to the hospital, you’re screened by Nursing Service and the physicians. And if you need help functioning in your environment, the appropriate rehab service as ordered.
Does everyone seeking rehabilitation need to be referred by a medical staff member?
No. In most cases you can self-refer to the different disciplines. However, many insurance companies do require a referral from a physician if they’re going to pay for those services. So it’s a little bit tricky—you can go see a physical or occupational therapist, but if there’s an insurance company involved, you may need to check with that before if you expect payment from that insurance company.
Typically, how long does a rehabilitation program last?
It can be pretty quick. We can instruct a patient in a rehab program that they can carry on themselves in maybe 15 to 20 minutes if they have a relatively simple problem. For more complex problems, it may take several treatments and carry over several months or years if it’s a chronic problem. It really varies based upon the severity and the chronicity of the disease that we’re dealing with.
UI Hospitals and Clinics also offers specialized rehab services. Can you tell us more about some of those?
One of the services that’s getting a lot of attention right now is UI Sports Medicine. We are in the process of developing a new sports medicine program, potentially building a new building to support this. And it’s mainly fund-supported by our physical therapy division within the hospital. This sports medicine center will also provide primary, secondary, and tertiary medical support and some athletic training. So it’s an up and coming new service.
We have lots of services in UI Children’s Hospital. I mentioned earlier the Child Life Specialist, and the music therapist. We also have occupational and physical therapy involved in the UI Children’s Hospital services. I mentioned previously the educational services, which is part of the psychiatric division. And in those services we help kids learn to function in the appropriate environment—school environment, particularly.
Once released from a rehabilitation program, do most patients continue therapy on their own?
Yes. Again, if you have a chronic disease, you’re going to be rehabbing yourself as long as you have that disease (if you’re fighting that disease). So yes, many patients will have to continue their rehab program for long periods of time.
Are the lessons learned in a rehabilitation program something a patient can use the rest of his life?
That’s an ideal situation. We would much prefer the patient be able to handle their own rehab than rely on us. And a successful rehab process is to educate the patient so that they can carry on the program by themselves. |
