Choosing a Rehabilitation Service
Physical medicine and rehabilitation refers to a comprehensive program that combines the talents and skills of medical professionals with those of rehabilitation specialists to assist an individual in enhancing their ability.
The major emphasis of this program is to minimize loss of function, enhance and/or restore function to an individual, and prevent loss of function, while ultimately, maximizing an individual's ability to fully participate in life.
Within the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation programs are a wide variety of specialty services and support groups that address the specific needs of individuals and their family/caregivers.
Medical Rehabilitation
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Medical rehabilitation helps people with disabilities learn or relearn the skills they need to live more independently. |
Physical medicine and rehabilitation primarily focuses on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disabilities to help individuals live as independently as possible.
Easter Seals physicians, nurses and therapists work together to help restore function lost due to a wide range of disabilities from temporary conditions that inhibit mobility, such as lower back pain, to permanent disabilities that result in complex cognitive impairment, such as traumatic brain injury. Easter Seals also promotes the quality of life and overall well-being of individuals through education and prevention programs.
Like all Easter Seals services, Easter Seals Medicinal Rehabilitation are comprehensive and individualized to meet each client's needs, family-focused to meet each family member's concerns, outcome-oriented with a goal of enhanced independence, and cost-effective benefiting from public support.
Early Intervention
Physical Therapy
Occupational Therapy
Speech and Hearing Therapy
Early Intervention
Easter Seals early intervention services include individualized intervention to meet the needs of each child and family services designed to help infants and toddlers work toward developmental goals at the time in their lives when they are most ready to learn and can most benefit from intervention.
Qualified professionals work with children from birth to age 3 who are experiencing or are at risk for developmental delays to optimize development and achieve the highest possible level of functioning. Occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, social workers, early childhood special educators and others work together with parents to prepare each child and family for the eventual transition into a preschool program. Services may be provided at home or at Easter Seals centers that serve children of all abilities across the country.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy services focus on enhancing or restoring mobility that may have been lost due to trauma, disease, aging or congenital abnormality. Easter Seals licensed physical therapists incorporate therapeutic exercise, physical agents such as heat or cold, mechanical and electrotherapeutic modalities, assistive or adaptive devices, and specialized manual techniques to encourage independence at work, home, school and in the community by:
- improving functional mobility (including bed mobility/transfers and walking)
- increasing range of motion and strength
- promoting tissue healing
- decreasing pain and swelling
- incorporating safety, prevention and education
Link: American Physical Therapy Association
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy services focus on developing a child or adult's ability to perform activities of daily life, such as bathing, dressing and feeding, by enhancing or restoring function that may have been lost due to trauma, disease, aging or congenital abnormality. Easter Seals licensed occupational therapists incorporate the use of adaptive methods and devices, sensorimotor rehabilitation, purposeful activity and fine motor skill development to promote independence in self-care, work and productive activities and play or leisure skills. Treatment may aim to:
- improve independence in self care
- improve development of age-appropriate play and learning skills
- improve fine-motor dexterity, behavior components and sensory or perceptual processing
- develop specialized seating and positioning
- achieve independence in vocational pursuits
- develop workplace accommodations, assistive technology and devices
- provide driver training for adults with disabilities
- provide low vision rehabilitation
Link: American Occupational Therapy Association
Speech and Hearing Therapy
Speech and hearing therapy services focus on enhancing or restoring limited or lost communicative skills or swallowing capabilities lost due to trauma, disease, aging or congenital abnormality. Easter Seals licensed speech therapists incorporate the use of special facilitory techniques, augmentative and assistive equipment, therapeutic exercise and evaluation tools. Treatment focuses on:
- addressing disabilities in children, including articulation disorders, language delay and stuttering
- providing care to adults who may experience communication disorders, stuttering and cognitive impairment
- improving oral-motor, swallowing and respiratory skills
- providing augmentative and alternative communication systems to individuals who cannot rely on speech as a means of communication
Link: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Social Work
Mentally accepting a disability is something that doesn't occur naturally, it too needs to be addressed. Easter Seals social workers do everything possible to help individuals and their family/caregivers along this path of personal acceptance, which may include:
- evaluation and assessment of the individual
- case management
- discharge planning
- provide referrals to community resources
- individual, family and group counseling for both children and adults
Nursing
Easter Seals rehabilitation programs often provide services with the assistance of a rehabilitation nurse. A certified rehabilitation nurse supports, coordinates and reinforces all aspects of an individual's therapy program. Assistance may include bowel and bladder training, as well as prevention of bedsores.
Assistive Technology
Assistive technology provides expertise in both the recommendation of appropriate commercial products, as well as the fabrication of custom equipment to best achieve each individual's highest level of independence. Services may include:
- creating of custom wheelchair controls and seating systems
- providing home and work site evaluations
- modifying communication devices, access equipment for computers and environmental controls
- supplying vehicle modifications
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Easter Seals:
Easter Seals provides services for children and adults with disabilities and
their families. To learn more, contact Easter Seals' information and referral specialist via e-mail for additional resources. kvroman@easter-seals.org Some of their programs follow.
To find an Easter Seal Program in your state go to
http://www.easter-seals.org/resources/caregivers.asp
I checked out Florida and it has a whole SLEW of Easter Seal locations! Provides websites when they have one, contacts, etc.
-Camping and Recreation http://www.easter-seals.org/services/camp/index.asp
Easter Seals addresses the need for accessible camping with 140 camping and recreation facilities across the country. Serving more than 76,000 people each year, Easter Seals camping and recreation facilities offer individuals of all ages and abilities the opportunity to experience the joys and challenges of summer camp in a fully-accessible setting. Easter Seals offers three types of camping programs nationwide to address the diverse needs of the children and adults they serve. Among the available programs are day, residential and respite camps.*
-Child Development Centers http://www.easter-seals.org/services/survey.asp
offering top-quality inclusive care at centers across the country. Every Easter Seals Child Development Center operates according to NAEYC accreditation standards. Emphasis is placed on ongoing training for care givers; adult to child ratios to ensure small group and individualized attention; developmentally appropriate learning activities to meet the unique needs of each child; and superior facilities that meet or exceed industry health and safety standards. As a non-profit, Easter Seals can offer high quality service at an affordable cost, reinvesting revenues
back into its program services.
-Medical Rehabilitation http://www.easter-seals.org/services/medphys.asp
Easter Seals Medicinal Rehabilitation are comprehensive and individualized to meet each client's needs, family-focused to meet each family member's concerns, outcome-oriented with a goal of enhanced independence, and cost-effective benefiting from public support.
-Early Intervention
-Physical Therapy
-Occupational Therapy
-Speech and Hearing Therapy
-Adult Day Services http://www.easter-seals.org/services/adult.asp
Easter Seals adult day services are comprehensive and individualized to meet each client's needs, family-focused to meet each family member's concerns, outcome-oriented with a goal of enhanced independence, and cost-effective benefiting from public support. Adult day services offer respite for family members responsible for a relative who is unable to function independently, but does not require 24-hour nursing care. Participants may have:
-a physical disability;
-social impairment or mental confusion;
-a need for assistance with activities of daily living that falls short of 24- hour institutional care; or
-have returned from a recent hospital or institutional visit.
-In-home Care
Easter Seals in-home care aims to prevent premature institutionalization by providing the necessary support services to allow an individual to live at home. In-home care can both preserve self-esteem and dignity, and also promote increased independence.
-Assisted Living
Easter Seals assisted living residences are designed to meet special personal-service and housing needs, and sometimes health care needs, as well. Choices may vary from single to double rooms to suites and apartments.
-Medical Model
Easter Seals' medical model programs provide medical supervision and health-related services on a daily basis. Qualified staff administer medications and monitor a variety of medical conditions. Most often, therapy services (occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy) are available. Some medical programs also offer additional services such as bathing and personal care. Referrals to medical model centers may include individuals who have recently been discharged from a hospital.
-S.A.F.E.T.Y First http://www.easter-seals.org/resources/safety.asp
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-Key Considerations for Someone with Special Needs
-Accessibility Resources
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