Post-Hospitalization Rehab: 5 Indisputable Benefits

Sometimes seniors need a little more time and resources to recover after being hospitalized. Oftentimes, these resources aren’t available at home. At UMC at Collingswood, we’re proud to offer expert post-hospitalization rehabilitation services (also known as short-term rehab) to assist seniors in their recovery from falls, surgical procedures, and illnesses. Our physical and occupational therapists have found that starting these services as early as possible after hospitalization significantly decreases the risk of “functional decline” and helps seniors to regain and hang onto their independence longer.

If your loved one is looking for a facility that offers short-term rehab, please take a look at the 5 most important benefits of UMC’s professional services, compiled by our post-hospitalization rehab team at United Methodist Communities.

1. Physical Therapy. Perhaps the biggest benefit of post-hospitalization rehab is the personalized physical therapy plans for seniors. Once your loved one enters our care, our physical therapists perform a full evaluation to determine their current physical capabilities, and what they should be able to regain through a regular program. For example, if your loved one was just hospitalized for a fall that has negatively impacted their mobility, their physical therapy will focus on strengthening the legs, core, and hips through various exercises. The exercises will target trouble spots, loosen joints and expand their range of motion.
2. Occupational Therapy. OT is designed to help seniors jump back into their day-to-day lives by performing ADLs (activities of daily living). These include eating without support, getting dressed, bathing, going to the bathroom, and other tasks around the house. This type of therapy can also help seniors with vision or memory loss by engaging them in cognitive exercises like word puzzles and color-coding items around them so they appear more visible.
3. Speech Therapy. If your loved one was hospitalized for a stroke, they may require help with their speech post-hospitalization. Our speech specialists (on-site 24 hours a day) can help your senior parent relearn their speech through articulation, oral motor, and VitalStim therapies. Articulation helps them produce different sounds correctly, the oral motor helps them strengthen muscles related to the mouth, and VitalStim can help them regain the ability to swallow. All three methods work together to support the road towards recovering your loved one’s ability to talk coherently and without pain.
4. Decreases risk of further injury and falls. Falling is the major catalyst of severe injuries in seniors. What’s worse is once a fall happens, it’s likely that it will happen again in the future without proper treatment and prevention techniques. The combination of physical and occupational therapy is one of the most effective ways to prevent falls. With physical therapy, your loved ones can improve their stability through different balance techniques and exercises. At the same time, occupational therapy can improve their basic motor skills and range of motion to sharpen their reflexes and avoid potentially dangerous situations.
5. Reduces the need for prescriptions. As mentioned above, the physical therapy that takes place in post-hospitalization rehab helps loosen the joints and build strength to help offset painful symptoms. In addition, rehab therapists can teach different exercises designed to reduce the discomfort of seniors living with chronic pain, that as arthritis for example. With that being said, post-hospitalization rehab can help ease chronic pain, which means there will be less need for prescription painkillers. This is a great benefit because there are usually complications when it comes to adding a new medication to a senior’s roster. The last thing you want your loved one to deal with after getting out of the hospital is unpleasant side effects like vomiting, diarrhea, and migraines.

Regain independence with post-hospitalization rehab in Camden County, NJ

Moving everyday is key to maintaining senior independence. Taking part in regular physical and occupational therapies keeps seniors strong enough to perform ADLs on their own with a renewed sense of confidence. At UMC at Collingswood, post-hospitalization rehab entails different types of PT and OT  from highly-skilled specialists with the goal of restoring your loved one’s mobility, confidence, and most of all – their independence. Our residents in post-hospitalization rehab are also able to access assisted living services, such as dining options, community events, and group social activities with other residents.

Contact United Methodist Communities at Collingswood to find out how we are leading the way in post-hospitalization rehab care for seniors in New Jersey. Our dedicated associates available 7 days a week will be able to answer any questions you may have about all of the care services offered at our senior community in Camden County, NJ. For more information about UMC at Collingswood, please visit our website at: https://umcommunities.org/collingswood/