Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System - 8

8
Putting
Technology
to Work

Tina Patrick steadies herself with
the help of the Biodex Balance
System during a therapy session
with Michael Flores.

Melko, OT, certified occupational
therapy assistant. "Our patients get
approximately 900 minutes a week.
We try to provide as much one-onone therapy as we can for the benefit
of the patient."
One of the main focuses during
a physical therapy session, for
example, is on different increments
of walking. The patient walks 10
feet, then 50 feet while the therapist
assesses how he or she performs.
The patient also practices picking up
objects from the ground and getting
in and out of a car.
During an occupational therapy
session, the focus is on how the
patient is able to take care of
themselves, from eating, grooming
and brushing their teeth to washing
their face. Instrumental activities
of daily living are self-care tasks
that require more complex thinking
skills. Examples include cooking,
cleaning, laundry, managing pills
and medications, managing
a checkbook, paying the bills and
grocery shopping. One of the therapy rooms is a replica of an apartment so that patients can practice
with a real stove, oven, washing
machine, dryer and bathroom.

SPRING 2020 VIM & VIGOR

"Besides an
excellent nursing
staff, we are able
to offer more
intense physical,
occupational and
speech therapies
with advanced
technologies to
enhance the care
we provide to our
patients."
Toni Michalski,
clinical coordinator

To maximize each physical therapy session,
the therapist utilizes
advanced technology
such as the Biodex
Balance System™
and ZeroG® Gait and
Balance System. Biodex
is a balance testing and
training machine that
provides the therapist
feedback on the patient's
posture, stability,
weight-bearing load per
side and risk of falling.
Biodex is used for
patients with balance
issues who are at risk of
falling, not just stroke
patients, which is 99
percent of the patient
population at Crown
Point, Michalski says.
"The system is
designed to improve
balance, increase agility
and develop muscle
tone," she says.
ZeroG is a robotic
bodyweight support
system. Patients wear a

specialized harness that connects to
the ZeroG robot as it supports and
tracks their movements from above.
ZeroG helps the patient practice
walking, complete balance exercises
and work on position changes such
as sitting to standing in a "reduced
gravity" environment that supports
balance while preventing falls.
"ZeroG gives our patients the
safety and confidence to practice
functional, real-world balance and
walking activities," Michalski says.
"We believe the use of ZeroG technology will help our patients accelerate and maximize recovery." *

Rehab That
Works for You

For more information about the
Community Stroke &
Rehabilitation Center in Crown Point,
visit COMHS.org.

Clifton Hulett practices washing dishes with therapist Joshua Melko at the Community Stroke &
Rehabilitation Center in Crown Point.

http://www.COMHS.org

Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System

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