Saturday, October 27, 2012

Smart Senior: Senior Health and Fitness: Short Term Rehabilitation

Surgery can change your life. ?Even a minor procedure can leave you feeling like you?ve been run over by a truck.? Going home alone is not always a good plan. Being ill clouds your judgment.?? Dwelling on how miserable you feel will not help you get well. ??Nurturing is wonderful, but older people do not do well on bed rest.? Nutritious meals, good spirits and an exercise program are all needed for recovery. ?Surgery, whether elective or not, includes a period of adjustment. Giving some thought to convalescence and/or rehabilitation is important.?? How are you going to manage when you get home from the hospital?

Rehabilitation can take place in a number of settings but your circumstances will have to dictate which one you choose.? If going home and attending an out-patient program is out of the question, you might need to consider a short term stay at a rehabilitation center.

I found several articles in back issues of Northwest Prime Time (www.NorthwestPrimeTime.com) newsletters.? Several readers wrote to share their experiences in short term rehabilitation programs.? The reviews were positive and their experiences rewarding.? They had to work hard and the expectations were high, but the results were good. ??It is not the place to be if you plan to mope around feeling sorry for yourself.? ??A positive mindset is the key.? ???If the idea of a nursing home scares you to death, you may be reluctant take this step, but rehabilitation is different.? Focus on the words ?short term?.?? Hospitals cannot afford to keep people in acute care beds for as long as it takes to make a complete recovery.?? Hospitals also do not have time to pay attention to the activity needs of older people.? Inactivity is not good for them. ??Older people are prime candidates for intermediate care. ?Intermediate care or rehab was developed to help patients regain strength and mobility. ?Many nursing homes have been upgraded to include rehabilitation units, where the emphasis is on promoting independence.

Rehabilitation is an active process; being waited on is not.? It is easy to become accustomed to having people wait on you. ?Time spent in the hospital feeds into that sense of guilty pleasure. ????If you arrive at a rehab center expecting more of the same you will be in for a rude awakening.? ?You will be tired, but you need to arrive dressed in street clothes and ready to go to work. ??In rehab, a patient works with specialists every day (physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, restorative aides or perhaps a speech therapist). Their goal is to teach you how to be independent again.

Make arrangements before entering the hospital if possible.? Tour the facility of your choice and make sure that it is not just another nursing home.? You do not want to be with the general population.?? Staff is not there to wait on you.? They are there to motivate you, provide information, teach skills, listen to you and evaluate your progress.? The reward, of course, is that you will be able to return home and you just might be better than you were before.

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Source: http://lmb.typepad.com/smart_senior/2012/10/senior-health-and-fitness-short-term-rehabilitation.html

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