April is National Occupational Therapy Month: Continuation of Care
By Tami Gebel, Occupational Therapist
At Veterans Memorial Hospital, the Occupational Therapy Department is celebrating national awareness of its profession throughout the month of April. As occupational therapists, our role is to help people regain function following illnesses. We treat people who are recovering from hip or knee replacement surgery, heart attacks, pneumonia, strokes, COVID, generalized weakness, cancer, lymphedema, breathing difficulties, and many other diagnoses.
Occupational therapy is provided in the hospital, under skilled care, treating those people who are recovering from an illness. Many times, people who are ill are unable to manage living at home. As occupational therapists, we ensure that those patients are strong enough and capable to safely perform routine activities, such as dressing, showering, and cooking, before they return home.
Once a person is discharged home from the hospital, the person may need on-going therapy in order to continue healing, so occupational therapy services continue in the outpatient clinic at the hospital. The patient can attend occupational therapy one to three times per week as an outpatient, to regain more strength and movement so that the person can return to self-care, work, and leisure tasks that the person was able to perform prior to the illness.
Joan McCormick, a local Waterville resident, has been dealing with weakness following a course of chemotherapy and radiation. She was transferred from Mayo in Rochester to Veterans Memorial Hospital for inpatient skilled care rehabilitation to receive daily therapy services in order to recover. When Joan was discharged from the hospital, she was then able to receive outpatient occupational therapy services.
Joan states that through the skilled therapy services at VMH then transitioning home with outpatient therapy, she has been able to continue working on her right hand strength and coordination without interruption. She states that the continuity of therapy services has strengthened the right side of her body so that she has the “ability to do things because the right hand is better.” Joan states, “I appreciate the care. While in the hospital, I received occupational and physical therapy twice per day and they have helped me a lot. I would recommend the skilled care and outpatient therapy to other people. We are so fortunate to have this place so close.”
Over the past years, the occupational therapists at Veterans Memorial Hospital have had the opportunity to work with many people from all over Allamakee and Clayton counties. It has been rewarding to the occupational therapy staff to assist patients in regaining the ability to complete tasks that they want and need to perform. The occupational therapists at Veterans Memorial Hospital look forward to continuing to provide services to others in the many years to come.
For more information on the occupational therapy services offered at Veterans Memorial Hospital, please call the therapy department at 568-5528.
