By: Coral Robison

Rehabilitation therapy programs for general debility focus on helping people rebuild muscle strength and stamina, recover their maximum physical function, and return home as soon as possible.

General Debility

Whether it’s due to surgery or an illness, general debility is a condition in which a person feels weak and sapped of energy, making it hard to handle even typical daily activities. Feeling weak or lacking strength can start a cycle that leads people to do less and less, and their bodies to continue to lose strength.

General debility rehabilitation therapy helps patients improve their physical health and quality of life. It incorporates guided exercise and education to help patients cope with daily activities and make lifestyle changes such as stopping smoking or losing weight to help improve their overall health.

Loss of Function and Common Problems

• Muscle weakness
• Fatigue
• Pain
• Decreased mobility
• Increased risk of falls

Our Rehabilitation Team

Our interdisciplinary rehabilitation team is committed to helping each patient and family progress to recovery. This specialized team evaluates and develops a personalized treatment plan designed to help each individual recover and develop the skills needed to return home and live as independently as possible.

The rehabilitation team may include:

• Patient/caregiver
• Physicians specializing in rehabilitation
• Rehabilitation nurses
• Physical therapists
• Occupational therapists
• Speech therapists
• Case managers/social workers
• Nutritional counselors

Rehab in the Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Setting or Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital

Each treatment plan is designed specifically for you to meet your therapy goals and medical needs. It typically includes physical, occupational and speech therapy:

• Physical therapists focus on exercise routines designed to strengthen and maintain existing muscle function. Our physical therapists also will help you learn how to use any required mobility devices.
• Occupational therapists help you learn techniques for managing self-care activities such as dressing, bathing as well as everyday activities such as home management. They also will provide instruction for equipment that will help you better perform these activities.
• Speech therapists provide training regarding breathing and swallowing.

Areas of focus:

• Teaching adapted activities of daily living (ADLs)
• Progressive exercise regimen tailored to fit each patient’s needs and abilities
• Anxiety and pain management
• Patient and family education
• Healthy lifestyle programs such as nutrition education, smoking cessation, stress and weight reduction
  

Rehab in the Outpatient Setting

With outpatient rehabilitation, therapists help patients with individualized strength, mobility, and balance training. They assess each patient’s current level of function and make recommendations for home exercise programs and provide guidance and recommendations to improve home safety.

Education and one-to-one training also is provided for both the patient and his or her family and caregivers.

Caregiver Support

We know the critical role caregivers and family members play in helping their loved ones recover after an illness or injury. We also know it can be stressful at times. Our care team offers support and information to help caregivers and other loved ones understand the recovery process after a spinal cord injury and how to best help their loved one. They also will help direct caregivers to the right resources so they can get help and support when they need it.

Here at Saline Memorial Hospital, we offer both an acute inpatient rehabilitation program and outpatient therapy services. Our acute inpatient rehabilitation program is nationally accredited with CARF International, which demonstrates our commitment to following evidence-based best practices for delivering high quality rehabilitative care, to focusing on the unique needs of each patient and to monitoring the results of our services.

For more information on our acute inpatient rehabilitation program, visit SalineMemorial.org/Rehab or call 501.776.6630. For more information on outpatient therapy services, visit SalineMemorial.org/Therapy-Services or call 501.776.6145.