GREENSBURG – National Rehabilitation Services Awareness Week is Sept. 21 through Sept. 27. Most people only think of rehabilitation, or rehab, when they need it, or associate it only with physical injuries.
However, the field of rehab services is a widely varied one that helps people of all kinds, with all types of problems, get back to normal functioning.
Decatur County Memorial Hospital’s (DCMH) rehab services department offers physical, occupational, speech and massage therapies, as well as athletic training and audiology services.
Physical therapy is relatively straightforward, helping patients regain their previous levels of movement and strength after an injury. This is the most common type of rehabilitation and DCMH has a higher concentration of physical therapists to help meet demand.
Occupational therapy uses treatments to regain, develop or maintain the daily living and working skills of those with a physical, mental or developmental condition. For example, many children with autism receive occupational therapy, often in conjunction with physical and speech therapies.
Speech therapy focuses on the evaluation and treatment of communication and swallowing disorders. This covers a wide range of issues and can make vast differences in a person’s life.
Along with audiology, which deals with hearing and balance disorders, physical, occupational and speech therapies are the focus of the pediatric rehab center. Many children requiring these services start in First Steps, an early intervention program. After aging out of the program at three years old, they can opt to continue therapies at DCMH, often with the same therapists.
“We have a very nice continuum of care,” said Lisa Oldham, Director of Rehabilitation Services. “It’s neat to see local people come in and the therapists know them by name. It adds a personal level to their care.”
Oldham said DCMH strives to provide full-life rehab care, from newborns to the elderly, something she said makes DCMH unique, especially for a small rural hospital.“What our department does is help people get back to normal functioning,” Oldham said.
In the last year, DCMH’s rehab services have received a couple of grants, allowing them to purchase iPads for patient use. They are most often used for the pediatric patients, but adult patients use them as well. If February, the Hospital Foundation of Decatur County gave the department a grant to provide free massages to chemotherapy patients.
In addition, the Hospital Foundation has provided the funds to start lymphedema training and treatment. Lymphedema is swelling caused by damage to the lymphatic system. Though the condition is incurable and progressive, it is manageable with treatment, with the rehab center will soon be able to provide.
DCMH also has athletic trainers in the local schools who work with student athletes. These trainers are present to treat injuries when they occur, but to teach proper techniques to avoid as many injuries as possible as well.
“Our rehab department is unique in the variety of patients we see for a rural setting,” Oldham said.
Two things that make DCMH’s rehab services department especially distinctive are the areas dealing with vestibular, or dizziness and balance, and incontinence rehabilitation. Oldham said there are no other options for vestibular rehab closer than Indianapolis of Cincinnati, proving the hospital’s motto, “The Quality Care You Want – Close By.”
DCMH has options for patients who have graduated from the rehab program as well. During lunch hours, DCMH holds an open gym for patients who would like to use the equipment for a flat cost of $5. Patients must be independent with the home program to take part, but this allows them to continue working until they feel 100 percent.
Rehab services treat much more than just physical injuries – mental and cognitive disabilities, communication disorders, feeding and swallowing and so much more. The dedicated and diverse staff at DCMH’s rehab center are just a doctor’s referral away from helping a new patient get back to feeling better.
Written by the Greensburg Daily News