Skilled Therapy

Services

Skilled Therapists

Sometimes our patients need additional support to help them return to an optimal level of function. Our occupational, physical, and speech therapists are trained to provide that support.

Occupational therapy is designed to help restore a patient’s independence and mobility, while physical therapy helps to ensure a patient regains skills and confidence, and speech helps a patient regain or improve communication skills, eating, and swallowing.

The occupational therapist will:

• Assess a patient’s current health and functional status
• Provide patient education
• Assess the home for safety concerns
• Guide a patient through appropriate recreational activities
• Plan and implement therapeutic programs
• Instruct the patient in the use of assistive devices
• Suggest ways of simplifying activities of daily living like doing laundry, preparing meals, bathing, grooming, etc.

The physical therapist will:

• Perform a fall risk assessment
• Develop an exercise regimen to increase muscle strength and range of motion
• Provide gait training and balance training exercises
• Leave instructions with home aides so they can help with continued improvement.

The speech therapist will:

• Perform tests to identify language limitations
• Perform swallow evaluations for stroke or brain-injured patients
• Administer tests to identify neurological problems interfering with speech or language
• Develop a treatment plan to improve formation of sounds and pronunciation of letters and words
• Teach exercises to strengthen swallowing muscles
• Where necessary, teach alternative methods of communication, such as sign language