Inpatient Rehab Helps Patients Regain Functions

Depending on type and severity of injury the rehab may last hours or months, purpose of inpatient rehab is to help the patient regain functions that have been lost from illness and injury, helping them to return to regular daily activities such as relearning how to walk, talk, feed themselves, regain balance, or move their head. Rehab is different from recovering from illness injury, in rehab patient roles change from being along for the ride to being behind the wheel. A patient can undergo several hours of occupational and physical therapy daily.

Physicians coordinate with physical and occupational therapists to design programs to help the patient which can be physically and emotionally intense, pushing patients to recover lost function to regain independence. Successful rehab depends heavily in patient participation and continued cooperation.

Once the patient is discharged home, case managers will continue to work with the patient if needed to offer assistance with the transition home by helping to manage outpatient therapy appointments, administer medications, and use medical equipment. Patient and families are talked to extensively about home environments, counseling on exercise, meals, recreational activities, catheter use, climbing stairs, continued therapy, mobility, anything that applies to patient recovery. This change can mean hard work, as recovery doesn’t happen immediately.

Inpatient rehab stays generally aren’t for very long. Patients with severe trauma including spinal cord injuries average 38 days.Studies show that strong social support influences how long a person needs to spend in rehab. Large studies on medical rehab trends found five major impairment groups: brain, spinal cord dysfunction, stroke, other neurological conditions, and orthopedic conditions such as hip replacement. 60% of patients are female with the average age of 68 for hip replacements. Inpatient rehab is recommended over nursing homes for stroke rehab by the American Heart and Stroke Associations.

Thanks to motivations from rehab workers many patients have regained much of their independence and functions as quickly as possible that may not have otherwise. Making inpatient rehabilitation an important part in patient recovery. As in all areas of healthcare some patients will have less access to rehab than others due to insurance, such as customized discharge planning, or at home counseling.