It is very important to be confident about the quality of care you or a loved one will receive when entering a Rehabilitation program. Very few people have prior experience with rehabilitation or the effects of a spinal cord injury (SCI), thus, assessing the quality of a rehabilitation program is difficult.
Although the final decision will ultimately depend upon individual circumstances such as insurance and location, all rehabilitation programs have features which can be evaluated, regardless of your prior knowledge of rehabilitation or SCI.
It is vital to select a high quality rehabilitation program with skilled professionals to help a newly injured person develop the skills needed to maintain physical and emotional health throughout his/her lifetime.
A Quick Word about Rehabilitation Programs
In order to develop and maintain quality services for individuals with spinal cord injuries, rehabilitation staff and programs MUST specialize in treating SCI. This expertise is best acquired and maintained when staff members treat people with SCI on a regular basis. High quality rehabilitation programs are often located in facilities devoted exclusively to providing rehabilitation services, or in hospitals with designated SCI units.
In-patient SCI rehabilitation programs have features which distinguish them from the hospital programs where most people receive initial treatment. Rehabilitation programs are designed to serve people with a wide variety of skills and must address complex social and community issues. A rehabilitation team comprised of specialized medical personnel is used to accomplish these goals.
Teams should include social workers, occupational and physical therapists, recreational therapists, rehabilitation nurses, rehabilitation psychologists, vocational counselors, nutritionists and other specialists. The team is usually directed by a Physiatrist, a physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation (see What is a Physiatrist?). Team members are jointly responsible for working with individuals and their families to develop effective rehabilitation and discharge plans.
The team should assign a program manager who will function as a contact with the rest of the team. This contact should meet with the person undergoing rehabilitation on a regular basis to discuss the rehabilitation plan and to address personal or family concerns.
Rehabilitation programs and acute care units may also differ in their emphasis on family and patient participation. Although many factors can contribute to someone's successful return to the community following a spinal cord injury, the education and active involvement of the newly injured person and the family is crucial. Rehabilitation programs should focus on maximizing a person's ability to be independent and should assist in making decisions about treatment and goals.
The following questions were developed to assist you in your decision making process. They can be used as a checklist to obtain the information required to make an informed decision when choosing a rehabilitation program.
