By Lynn Farrow
Community Care Occupational Therapist/
Layton Site Rehabilitation Specialist

When older adults participate in therapy, they usually see improvements in their ability to move and function. But those gains can quickly disappear when therapy ends, often making the results of traditional therapy programs short lived.

We are fortunate that in Community Care’s PACE and Partnership programs we are able to extend therapy in order to maintain newly acquired movement and function, and even to push through plateaus to the next level. Community Care has traditional therapy programs customized to meet the specific needs of its participants, but we don’t stop there. After a participant completes prescribed therapy, he or she can be discharged to restorative therapy, which helps maintain the progress achieved.

Generally, in the fee-for-service world, if therapy patients reach a point where they are not making progress, insurance companies will refuse to pay for continued therapy. With frail elderly, it is common to plateau. The beauty of Community Care is that we can continue to provide therapy for a longer time period in order to see if further gains can be made.

Once PACE and Partnership participants have maximized the benefits of a particular therapy program, they can be referred to a restorative program. These programs, administered by rehabilitation assistants, allow care providers to keep an eye on participants, monitoring them and helping them maintain the new level of function and movement they achieved through therapy.

One very meaningful experience for us was when we helped an 84-year-old man who had suffered a neck injury in a fall. When he came to us, his head and neck were stabilized with a halo, a large metal band circling and attached to his head and braced with rods to his shoulders. He was not able to move very much. Through lots of therapy and his own determination, he was able to walk again with an adapted walker. Consequently, he was able to continue to live at home.

Whether therapy patients are living at home or in a nursing home, the Community Care team will continue to monitor their progress. Good communication between therapists, interdisciplinary team members, participants and their families results in coordinated care for the participants. For example, nurses and therapists often consult with each other to be sure participants have the appropriate equipment in their homes to enhance their independence and maintain their safety.

The continuity of care enables a quicker response to participants’ needs. Outside of programs like Community Care’s PACE and Partnership, a primary care physician must make a decision and give a referral to see a rehab specialist. The Community Care teams include these specialists, eliminating the referral process and ensuring prompt treatment.

Community Care provides on-site therapy services at the Prospect Group Home and at the Vliet, Fond du Lac, and Layton sites. Community Care therapists supply all of these services. The therapists also serve as team members in various satellite sites and in Community Care programs in Racine and Kenosha.

As a therapist, it is nice to know that everyone is working as a team to improve the lives of our participants. We don’t have to wait until someone has a significant decline to provide what is needed. Community Care’s wholistic approach provides quality health care and allows staff the flexibility to explore a variety of options to produce the best possible outcomes for our participants. It’s a great program.