Maximizing mobility and minimizing pain
Family Physiotherapy Centre keeps seniors lithe and limber
Tuesday November 13, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
Many residents living in OMNI long-term care homes have increased their mobility thanks to physiotherapy, and therapists from Kanata-based Family Physiotherapy Centre have been at the forefront of the effort to motivate, educate and treat residents with mobility issues.
Family Physiotherapy provides physiotherapy services to six OMNI long-term care homes: Forest Hill, Garden Terrace, Rosebridge Manor, Village Green, Woodland Villa and Almonte Country Haven.
About 60 per cent of residents in these homes use Family Physiotherapy’s services. Since signing on with OMNI three years ago, therapists from Family Physiotherapy have helped many residents regain their mobility to the point they no longer require wheelchairs or walkers.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of seniors in long-term care homes seeking treatment to help regain mobility, says Pat LeClair, general manager of Family Physiotherapy.
“People are finding out that liberty is as much mobility as anything else,” he says. “Our main goal is to make sure that with everyone we touch, whenever possible, we can help them (with their mobility).”
Family Physiotherapy therapists have two main goals: minimizing pain and maximizing mobility.
As people get older, they tend to be less physically active. As a result, muscles begin to atrophy and mobility is decreased. By the time residents in long-term care begin receiving physiotherapy, they’ve usually had long periods of inactivity and need time to have mobility reintroduced to them.
This is why motivation plays such a big part in the recovery process and is a cornerstone of Family Physiotherapy’s mission. Often, a resident’s mobility will decrease to the point where they no longer believe they’ll ever regain independence.
Motivation is so important that when Family Physiotherapy hires therapists it seeks individuals who the clinic feels will be able to encourage others to take charge of their recovery process.
Therapists need to have the personal skills to approach individuals who are not motivated and encourage them to become involved with physiotherapy, says LeClair.
“You’ve got to be able to go to a 76-year-old person and say, ‘You know what, there’s absolutely no need for you to be in this position,’” he says.
When it comes to motivating residents in long-term care homes, LeClair says one of the things therapists try to do is provide people with examples of others who have had success with physiotherapy.
“We identify individuals within (the home) who have been successful, and use that approach,” he says.
Providing education to a resident and their family members is also an important factor in the recovery process, says LeClair. When residents and their families learn about the causes of immobility issues and how to prevent immobility, current and future conditions can become reduced.
“You wouldn’t believe how much traction that can give us,” he says.
Family Physiotherapy Centre specializes in treating people of all ages with a variety of conditions, including:
- Arthritic and rheumatologic conditions
- Pre- and post-surgical conditions
- Orthopedic conditions
- Chronic pain
- Back and neck pain
- Repetitive strain injuries
- Neurological conditions
- Sports injuries
- Injuries resulting from automobile collisions
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