No matter how hard you work to help a loved one cope with an illness or disability, you may face challenges that call for specialized skills and techniques. In addition to medical care and assistance with daily tasks, your loved one might benefit from different forms of therapy that can help them regain their abilities and independence.
Fortunately, in-home nursing services can bring the therapy to your loved ones instead of forcing your loved one to make difficult or impossible trips to a facility. Once you know more about these various services, you may want to schedule them for that special person in your life. Take a look at three common options.
1. Physical Therapy
If you've ever needed physical therapy to aid your recovery from an illness or injury, you may already feel familiar with this discipline. Physical therapy focuses on rehabilitation techniques that restore mobility, balance, strength, or stability. Supervised exercises address the individual's specific needs and limitations.
In-home physical therapists typically help individuals struggling with dementia, a recent stroke, a debilitating injury, or a disorder that impairs nerve or muscle function. They also treat individuals recovering from a hip replacement or other major surgery. Some physical therapy treatments can also help manage chronic pain.
If you schedule in-home physical therapy for your loved ones, a licensed therapist will conduct an initial evaluation to determine what skills your loved one needs to regain. Exercises that improve strength and flexibility may help your loved one move about more safely, easily, and comfortably, reducing their need for assistance.
2. Occupational Therapy
Like physical therapy, occupational therapy aims to help individuals regain lost strength and coordination. However, this form of therapy focuses on the restoration of specific skills necessary for daily tasks such as eating, bathing, cooking, and getting dressed. It can also help working-age people return to their jobs.
Occupational therapy can involve more than just exercises. Your loved one's therapist can also make recommendations about installing assistive devices around the home, training the loved one on how to use those devices safely. Some occupational therapists can even help individuals deal with emotional or mental health conditions.
Many associate occupational therapy with workers who are disabled or elderly individuals. In reality, people of all ages, employed or not, may benefit from this kind of care. For instance, children struggling with physical or mental challenges can fine-tune essential skills that aid their achievements, first in school and then later in life.
3. Speech Therapy
A devastating neurological issue such as dementia, a stroke, or a traumatic brain injury can damage the nerves, muscles, or part of the brain associated with speech. These problems can also interfere with other oral functions such as swallowing. In-home speech therapy can address these and other related challenges.
The type of therapy your speech therapist provides will depend on your loved one's specific problem. Loved ones recovering from a stroke might need training on sound formation to help them use the right words. Individuals with weak throat structures might need therapy that improves their ability to swallow or vocalize.
Speech therapy can improve brain health even as it improves communication skills. This form of training can sometimes restore cognitive function, helping solve problems more easily and understand more of what others say. Meanwhile, improved communication helps to reduce isolation and keep the mind stimulated.
If you feel that someone you love could benefit from any of these therapeutic options, seek out the caring experts at A Visiting Redi-Nurse. We can evaluate the situation, recommend the appropriate courses of treatment, and then administer the necessary therapy in the comfort of your loved one's home.
Contact us today.
