The Types Of Rehabilitative Care

Rehabilitation therapy aims at helping patients recovering from injuries, illness, and surgery regain their functional abilities and independence. Such treatments are available in inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation centers from a multidisciplinary team of medical professionals. Besides, visiting therapists can offer home-based rehabilitation programs. Patients may seek any of the following rehabilitative care services based on their prevailing healthcare needs. 

Physical Therapy 

Physical therapy aims at improving mobility while relieving pain. Usually, a physical therapist or sports therapist evaluates your condition and creates a rehabilitative care plan. Typically, the assessment includes testing your mobility, movements, posture, balance, and heartbeats. The treatment involves physical exercises, stretching, massage, learning how to use artificial limbs, electrical stimulation, and practicing with mobility gadgets. In the end, the patient restores movement, strength, and stability. 

Occupational Therapy 

The main aim of occupational therapy is to restore the patient's ability to perform activities of daily living. Such activities may include self-care, work occupations, and leisure-related tasks. Occupational therapists use a holistic approach. Rather than treating a particular illness or injury, occupational therapy treats the whole body. Thus, occupational therapists assess the patient's integral activities and support them to become independent in performing those roles and tasks. 

Speech Therapy

Speech therapy is a form of rehabilitative care service that addresses speech and communication difficulties. This therapy is ideal for rehabilitating people suffering from articulation, fluency, resonance, receptive, and expressive disorders. Usually, a speech pathologist (therapist) assesses communication challenges and speech disorders. Then, the therapist combines several techniques, such as articulation therapy or language intervention activities, to enhance communication. In addition to conversational tactics, interventions may include breathing exercises and the use of books, games, and apps.

Cognitive Rehabilitation

Cognitive rehabilitation is also known as cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT). This rehabilitative care service helps patients improve their thinking, reasoning, and memory capabilities. The premise behind this approach is that cognitive problems arise from faulty thoughts leading to unhelpful behaviors. For example, a person injured in an accident may develop vehicle phobia. Thus, changes in thinking patterns can relieve symptoms. Therefore, cognitive therapists support the patients to recognize thinking distortions, gain a better understanding of their behavior, create coping strategies and confidence in their abilities.  

Vocational Rehabilitation  

Vocational rehabilitative care prepares the patient to return to work after the injury or illness event. Generally, occupational therapists possess the skills and knowledge to evaluate the worker's capacity, environment, and task performance. Then, the therapist creates a feasible individualized intervention plan for the patient. This way, individuals can return to work safely and on time while preventing future injury or illness.

The rehabilitative care interventions may include: 

• Acute injury and illness management 
• Work conditioning and hardening
• Functional capacity evaluation 
• Environmental modification 
• Transition work programs  

Rehabilitative care services can help the body heal from injuries and illnesses while helping you regain strength and relearn skills. However, consult qualified practitioners who understand the relationship between the person and their environment to create tailored therapies. 

For more information, contact a local business, like Dominion Physical Therapy.