General Rehabilitation Program
No matter what challenge you are facing, our skilled and diverse team is ready to help you recover. Our inpatient program features many therapies, and is designed to get you back on your feet. We serve adult patients who are medically stable, but who need intensive therapy after an illness, injury or surgery.
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While staying with us, you work with a talented multidisciplinary team. Our team includes specially trained nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, social workers, speech-language pathologists, a therapy activity coordinator, and physiatrists. A physiatrist is a doctor who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation. We also have a hospitalist on staff, and hospital services are available to all patients 24 hours per day. Family members are an important part of our team and are encouraged to participate. Family members are welcome from the initial assessment to the daily treatment plan and discharge planning.
Program Recovery Goals
Our goal is to make sure each patient reaches their potential when recovering. To reach our goal, the physiatrist coordinates the efforts of a team of professionals. This team will help you identify and reach your goals. Common problems that can benefit from rehabilitation include:
- Balance and coordination impairments
- Inability to swallow
- Inability to move in bed or from one place to another
- Inability to walk
- Inability to perform activities of daily living such as eating, grooming, dressing, bathing, and homemaking
- Cognitive/perceptual deficits or speech/language problems, in conjunction with physical limitations
- Inability to work or function in the community due to physical impairment
- Weakness or limited motion in arms, legs, or trunk
Treatment Team
In addition to the physiatrist and rehabilitation nurses, the following team members are always available to participate in developing a patient’s personalized plan of care:
- Physical therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Speech/language pathologists
- Social worker
- Physician consultants
- Registered dieticians
- Psychiatrist
- Respiratory therapists
- Wound nurse
- Orthotic/prosthetic specialists
Family members are an integral part of our team and are encouraged to participate from the initial assessment to the daily treatment regimen and discharge planning.
Learn more about our team >
Medical Care
In addition to your core team, your medical care is directed by a doctor who is specially trained in rehabilitative medicine. Each patient will be assigned to a medical doctor who will assist the physiatrist in your overall care during your stay. This ensures medical stability and the best possible recovery.
Some common patient goals that the physician and nursing team strive work toward include:
- Medical stability
- Pain management
- Wound monitoring and prevention of skin breakdown
- Recovery of normal bladder and bowel function
- Education of patients and caregivers to promote functional independence
- Reintegration of the patient back to their community
In addition to our General Rehabilitation Program, we offer a Stroke Rehabilitation Program for more specialized care.
Learn more about our Stroke Rehabilitation Program >
Services
Our program is focused around three main therapies: physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language therapy. Specific treatment plans are tailored to the individual needs and goals of each patient. These services are structured to give patients the skills they need to get back home and into their community. All patients receive at least two of these therapies. Patients do at least three hours of therapy per day, five days per week.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy can ease pain and help you move, function, and live better. Physical therapists work with patients to improve strength, endurance, balance, and range of motion. The techniques they teach can be incorporated at home for continued improvement.
The goals of physical therapy may include:
- Restoring function
- Improving ability and independence
- Improving endurance
- Improving balance
- Teaching lifestyle changes to prevent re-injury
Physical therapy is used to treat a variety of situations, including:
Orthopedic
- Back and neck injuries
- Joint replacements
- Fractures
- Multiple trauma
- Amputations
Neurological
- Spinal dysfunction/cord injury
- Brain injury
- Stroke
Pain Management
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is important if you have an injury, illness, disability or pain that makes it difficult for you to do everyday activities. Occupational therapy gives you the skills you need to adapt, so you can be independent in doing tasks at home, work, or school. If needed, you’ll learn how to use assistive devices, which are tools to help you achieve your goals. Occupational therapists show you how you can change your movements so you are able to do the activities you like – and need – to do.
Occupational therapists at Sam Karas Acute Rehabilitation Center work with patients on doing everyday activities, such as dressing, bathing and cooking. The goal is always to improve a patient’s independence by doing meaningful activities. In some cases, occupational therapists design and make splints and other equipment to help people adapt to injury or illness. Each person’s treatment is based on his or her abilities, interests, education, and occupational background. Many kinds of treatment may be used to help the patient.
The goals of occupational therapy may include:
- Attaining improved mobility, joint flexibility, muscle strength, gross and fine motor skills
- Adjusting socially and emotionally
- Learning to use prosthetic devices
- Learning self-care skills, job skills, and leisure and group activities
- Preparing for independent living
Occupational therapy is used to treat a variety of situations, including:
Orthopedic
- Spine surgeries
- Joint replacements
- Fractures
- Multiple trauma
- Amputations
Neurology
- Brain injury
- Stroke
- Spinal dysfunction/cord injury Pain Management
Speech-Language Therapy
Speech-language therapy can help patients who have problems with communication, speech, cognition, and swallowing. Speech-language therapists also work closely with a patient’s caregivers and family members to provide education. We take care to understand exactly what the problem is, and then create a comprehensive treatment plan to meet the needs of each patient. Sometimes more than one strategy is used to help the patient.
The goals of speech-language therapy may include:
- Improving speech articulation
- Learning to speak more fluently
- Strengthening the muscles of the mouth
- Improving swallowing and eating
- Learning to speak more clearly
Speech-language therapy is used to treat a variety of situations, including:
- Aphasia
- Cognitive deficits
- Multiple sclerosis
- Dysphagia (swallowing disorders)
- Stuttering disorders
- Tracheotomy
- Traumatic brain injury
- Stroke
- Dysarthria (difficulty pronouncing words)
- Parkinson’s disease
- Voice disorders