Rehab Select Blog

There’s no doubt the role of occupational therapy in a skilled nursing facility has evolved and grown over the last several years. Whether you’re a short-term resident recovering from an illness or injury or a long-term resident with chronic disease, the right occupational therapy team and plan can have a significant impact on your progress and your overall quality of life.

Chronic illnesses, sudden injuries, and mental and physical disabilities can make it difficult or even impossible for those suffering from them to perform many of the day-to-day functions most people take for granted.

As you get older, you may experience physical changes that impact flexibility, agility, strength and endurance such that falls become a significant risk to your independence.

Of course, preventing falls altogether is the ultimate goal. However, if you've already experienced a fall, the goal then is to attend a rehabilitation program so that you can return to normal function and prevent further falls from happening.

Occupational therapy (OT) for physical dysfunction helps patients remediate impairments and limitations by learning practical techniques to work around their challenges. It helps patients recovering from surgeries (e.g., joint replacement and other orthopedic surgeries,) rehabilitating after a stroke or cardiac event, or dealing with the loss of mobility due to chronic health conditions regain day-to-day functions and independence.

According to the The National Safety Council, the U.S. experienced 14.3 million injuries in 2019 alone. Unfortunately, many of us will suffer from an injury that seriously affects our health at some point in our lives. Others of us may have to cope with the impacts of long-term illness.

Physical and occupational both play a key role in rehabilitation and recovery. At Rehab Select, our expert teams of occupational and physical therapists work together to create a holistic treatment program for our patients in short- and long-term care.

For patients recovering from prolonged illnesses or injuries — strokes, fractures, or neuromuscular diseases — making the necessary adjustments to perform day-to-day self-care, regain cognitive functions, and return to work can be challenging.

We are beating back COVID-19. As of May 14, 2021, over 35% of the U.S. population has had both doses of an approved vaccine. The moving weekly average of cases continues downward; however, this is not the time to assume that treatment innovations can stop. We have seen firsthand how tough this virus can be on vulnerable populations and how diverse and complicated its effects are.

Marie Curie once said, "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

Falling can cause serious injury no matter how old you are – but can be more dangerous if you are older, since conditions like osteoporosis weaken bones and can increase the risk of fracture.