In July 2022, a medical rehabilitation department was opened at Khmelnytskyi City Hospital. Its patients are people after strokes, craniocerebral injuries, barotraumas, surgical interventions on the brain. They go here after a stay in neurology, therapy, surgery and traumatology of other medical institutions. Initially, the department treated mostly civilians, now many military personnel are also being rehabilitated.
Each patient can get two rehabilitation cycles during the year. At this time, depending on the needs and assigned tasks, they will work with the person according to the various directions of rehabilitation.
A multidisciplinary team is working on comprehensive rehabilitation, which includes specialists from various fields: a physical rehabilitation doctor, a medical physical therapist with an assistant, an occupational therapist, a psychologist, and a speech and language therapist. Specialists cooperate, exchanging information about the patient’s condition and developing an individual plan for rehabilitation.
For example, a physical therapist is engaged in restoring the functionality of the musculoskeletal system and improving the patient’s general health. The recovery method is different for an attack when the musculoskeletal system and cognitive functions are affected.
If the physiotherapist is focused on improving the general condition of the patient, then the occupational therapist focuses on its impact on everyday activities: teaches people how to cook, comb their hair, and dress.
Often, after neurological diseases and injuries, it is necessary to restore people’s ability to communicate. A speech and language therapist deals with this in the department. Speech is restored for a long time, sometimes for several years, and the traces may remain for a lifetime. It is a complex function, a superstructure over the thinking process. In Ukraine, the field of “language and speech therapy” is only developing. Therefore, it is necessary to acquire such a specialty from specialists who studied abroad.
Most of the psychological problems after an illness or injury are related to the experience of fear. When working with patients, the psychologist uses, in particular, cognitive therapy – changing fears and negative thoughts.
Over time, more and more military personnel are sent to the rehabilitation unit. They may have different goals during rehabilitation than civilians. Patients with limb amputations became a big challenge for local specialists. At the state level, such services are provided with prostheses of varying complexity. Specialists in the medical rehabilitation department must properly prepare the patient for this prosthesis so that the cult is functional, and the person can walk on the prosthesis.