Therapists lift patients’ spirits during recovery
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LEWISTOWN -- When it comes to finding everyday heroes, therapists deserve proper recognition and after reading this story you'll understand why.
At William Penn Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, occupational, speech and physical therapists have focused on supporting patients in their recovery efforts.
B.J. Wolfley, William Penn's director of the rehab department, wants her patients to make it home A-OK.
"We want to work with the patient just to get them to the next level and to get them home safely," Wolfley said.
Therapists can help folks get reacquainted with daily tasks such as cleaning dishes, homemaking and walking. Other tasks involve helping patients stand and balance themselves.
Occupational therapists help patients with dressing and bathing as well.
Therapists have gone above and beyond to make their guests feel welcome. That includes bringing them coffee, letting them use a personal TV and going on a Wal-Mart run.
"We treat them like family. That's what a lot of patients say. Our rehab department here has a lot of years of experience and we all just gel and work together really good. I think the patients see that as well and they just feel like they're a part of our family when they're in here...We don't talk down to the patient. We're on their level with what we're doing. And they really appreciate that," Wolfley highlighted. "We usually go on a personal level with a lot of them. Some of the patients here don't have families that come in on a regular basis and we're here everyday. So, we see them more than their family does. So, we get to know them really good."
William Penn also includes pet therapy from Hartley (golden retriever) and Lilly (yorkie), which patients enjoy petting and giving treats to.
Therapists at Penn have decades of experience and have demonstrated team unity during each work day.
"I have been a PT (physical therapist) for 20 years in February. I think we have an excellent department because we have been working together for years, know the residents well, know each other well and work together as a unit very well, and have a very seasoned department with many therapy veterans who have been practicing for decades," Jason Otto said.
Obstacles that patients at William Penn might be overcoming are shoulder replacements, strokes or broken hips.
Therapists evaluate and try to form goals with guests so they can work their way back to a more manageable home life.
For some, it can be difficult to achieve their goals, but in the case of two patients at William Penn they had to find strength from within to make the most of their recovery.
"We had a patient who had her leg amputated and it was an above knee amputation. And her goal was when it was time for her to go home she was walking from her room to out the door (at the facility)…When she walked out the door she said she was leaving at the nurses station. So, she walked down the hall and out the side door and that's where her car was parked. When she left everyone stood out in the hallway. We had kind of like a parade, we had balloons...I think we even had a song playing too. That was a big success story when she walked out of here," Wolfley said.
Patients have had to overcome lymphedema as well during their stay at William Penn.
There was a female patient that went through a 7-9 month progression and lost 80 pounds in order to get her life back. She couldn't wear normal women's shoes and instead she wore a men's size 14 in slippers and duct taped them.
"The day she sent me a picture of her in women's shoes she was just so happy," Wolfley added.
"She couldn't fit in her shower because her legs were so big. The day she took a shower she was so excited. She couldn't drive because her legs couldn't fit in the car. She drives now."
William Penn does offer outpatient therapy to those who need it. OT is when any psychotherapy service is offered when the client is not admitted to a hospital, residential program, or other inpatient settings. Penn has outpatient therapy for speech as well.
"People don't realize we offer outpatient speech therapy. Some don't realize it even though we're a nursing home. People can come in to do therapy 2-3 times a week and go home," Wolfley said.
Therapists at William Penn try to give patients and their families some coaching if they go home before they are actually ready to do so.
"We try to coach family and caregivers just to try and help them do the best they can. Sometimes there are people where we literally will recommend them and say look you can't go. You're not safe to go and if you go we're going to say it's against medical advice, because we don't feel that it's safe for you to go," Wolfley said. "But, a lot of times we try to do family education and we also try to do home evaluations where we actually take the patient to their home and go through things with them and see if there are things that we can do to make it safer whenever they get home. And it might be recommendations of putting a grab bar here, moving this throw rug, putting a raised toilet seat in or things like that just to make it safer for them to go home."
Even though William Penn has given assistance to folks in the area, they have dealt with some challenges in finding extra help.
Since COVID, the rehab center has a lack of volunteers in the activities department.
If people are interested in volunteering they can do one-on-one activities with guests among other duties during the day.
Other challenges Penn deals with fall on the insurance side.
"One of the hardest things with therapy now in this day and age is insurance. It's just getting the (insurances') approval to do therapy, because they will limit the amount of time that they will pay for a person to stay here for therapy, where they could possibly benefit from more therapy. But, because of financial reasons they can't stay here...They might have to go home and not even be ready to go home. So, that's one of the frustrating things," Wolfley noted.
William Penn has tried to help patients by adding a new standing frame, which helps both the therapists and patients.
"The standing frame is nice because it helps stand a person up. It supports the person 100% so that the therapist isn't lifting someone that's really heavy. It helps the patient and saves the therapist. Someone who can't stand on their own and get weight down through their feet, starts building leg muscles and core muscles," Wolfley continued.
Therapists have emphasized the importance of getting folks on the right track mentally and physically. We, as a community, should show our support for therapists in return and understand their job is a crucial one.