For many years we have been asked to publish or post recommendations that could help patients choose a rehabilitation program. Patients often ask us to share with the public that most of the damage patients sustain occurs after the stroke and was a result of the commercial programs in which they participated. This damage is created by interventions that are insurance driven , commercial in nature, not individualized, and are not self evident on patients.
Below are listed some of many points we recommended in choosing a rehabilitation program. We will start by sharing five initial points in this post and plan to share more in a longer post and publication in the future.
The following are 5 basic points we feel patients should consider when choosing a rehabilitation program.
1. Results are self evident on patients where patients regain more normal movement and therapists have a step by step detailed plan to regain NORMAL MOVEMENT throughout the body. Rehabilitation is rooted in restoration. The art of restoring normal movement requires skill and thus is lost in current academic teaching and clinical practice. Do not settle for a program that can not demonstrate via video documentation patients progressing in this manner.
2. Ask to see a large number of videos of severely affected patients that received initial treatment past one year of the initial onset of their condition. Everyone has had a camera on their phones for years . Centers should have thousands of hours of video demonstrating patient progress. Some of the patients that we worked hard to undo the negative effects of their previous commercial programs, and we restored full normal movement, have been used by their previous programs as examples of recovery. This was done without sharing with the public that the initial commercial program did not yield the results .
3. Beware of data and claims on paper of evidence that is not self evident on patients. Data and
claims of evidence based research are very misleading and not self evident on patients. Rehabilitation needs to be inline with rehabilitation principles of restoration of normal movement and function. All the data, misleading scales, and marketing masks the high compensation and negative effects of commercial, self interest driven programs. All results need to be self evident and demonstrated on patients.
4. Avoid any program that is not individualized to the patient. Keep in mind most programs claiming data on paper rely on repeating the same program with all patients. Programs that operate in such way are not individualized, do not restore normal movement/function, and patients have observed and reported these programs have damaged their potential for further recovery.
5. Avoid any program where your hand , foot or any other body part increases in tightness as a result of activity. It’s equivalent to your brain screaming that it’s on overload and all this neuro-damage is hard to undo and destroys your potential for recovering more normal movement . In addition to the neuro-damage noted there is notable secondary orthopedic damage sustained by moving with the wrong mechanics. All this affects potential for further recovery .
IN SUMMARY, recommendations are made to patients to help them in their recovery of more normal movement that is self evident. Therapists and programs should have an individualized plan for restoration of more normal movement for every body part. Programs should have hundreds of cases where they can prove via video documentation such restoration of more normal movement. This should include but is not limited to patients who are severely affected that are having difficulty recovering beyond one year.
We hope that the above information is helpful as an initial guideline.
Neuro-IFRAH Clinics by Waleed® Therapists and Instructors