National Rehab Awareness Week 16 Sep 2013

21 thoughts on “National Rehab Awareness Week 16 Sep 2013”

1. We are planning on taking cookie plates to all our referring MD’s, ortho docs, and d/c planners. We have bought ceramic plates from the $1 Store and our kitchen is baking cookies for us. We also have ordered specialty cookies that will have our facility name and logo on them- each plate will get one specialty cookie. We are also doing a flyer with a group shot of our therapist with the tag line, “Over (#) years of combined experience,” along with all the treatment specialties we have experience or certification in (e.g. lymphadema mgmt, neuro-IFRAH, etc). We will cellophane each plate and add Fall colored ribbons to the top with our flyer and a Park Manor Brochure attached. Our Marketing Coordinator will deliver them for us. 🙂

   1. Wow, Sonya! This is a great idea for creating better awareness of your rehab program at Park Manor. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your ideas and inspire others! Your team has been entered to win prizes. Stay tuned :). Deb Bielek, Therapy Resource, Ensign Services, Inc.

2. WB is doing several things. For the whole facility we having a “Get to kknow your therapist Contest” We have 3 catagories which the facility has to pick out who we are from pictures of our first car and baby pictures and how many years experience the entire team has combined. 3 $25.00 gift cards will be awarded !!!
   We will also have “Show the Love for Therapy Day” – all facility encouraged to wear red or pink tops!

   For the therapist each day lunch is being provided by different vendors! and Kevin allowed us to order a small gift for each therapist daily. They will get a button that says I love Rehab, a Rehab shirt, water bottle,writing pen and the COOLEST thing is a custom lapel pen that says “Were all in this together”

   For the therapy

   1. Anna, how fun! I love that your spotlighting an opportunity for the facility to get to know your rehab professionals in a fun way. And the “Show the Love for Therapy Day” is a great idea. Brining vendors into the facility gives people a chance to interact with them, as well, while learning about different pieces of equipment. Then, you’re carrying over your theme, “We’re all in this together” as an honor for your team. It’s great to see the partnership between you and your administrator to make this a great event. Thank you for sharing. Deb

3. We here at PCRC are hosting and demonstrating a public wellness forum in our out patient clinic. Our focus will be on balance. We have a small team of therapists volunteering their time to perform various balance assessments for participants and will conclude with a group discussion on the results and how to improve a persons individual balance for fall prevention and improved quality of life. We are working with local senior centers and a senior companion program to invite participants. Furthermore we will have local radio advertisments throughout the week to promote PCRC and National Rehab Awareness week! WE LOVE OLD PEOPLE!

   1. Scott, I LOVE THIS IDEA. What a great way to help make a difference in the lives of people in your community by increasing their awareness about balance and how therapists can make an impact. The local radio advertisements are a great approach for increasing awareness. These are the kind of events that give to the community and come back to you in the relationships that you build. Thank you for sharing. deb

4. At Holladay Healthcare Center we purchased gifts to give to the staff from positive Promotions including a pen and an insulated lunch bag that have Rehab – rebuilding lives everyday on them. We are going to give them out that week. We are also planning a pot luck during the week.

   1. Hi, Kurt. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your celebration ideas for National Rehab Awareness Month. The promotions sound cool and I especially like the theme, “Rebuilding Lives Everyday.” Having a potluck is a great way to bring people together. ENJOY! Thank you, again for taking the time to share. You’ve just entered your team into the contest for prizes 🙂 Deb

5. At Ukiah Health Care we are painting our PT gym and will be having a grand re-opening with the fresh new look. We are also spotlighting our therapists with their picture and bio in frames that will be hung outside the PT gym in the hallway for all to get to know their therapists better. We have a calls out to high schools and our junior college in our area to see if there is an opportunity there to share with new and upcoming students what a great and exiciting field rehab is.

   1. Hi, Robin. When reading your note, I can’t helped but get psyched about the idea of a grand “Re-Opening”. I’m intrigued that you have put a “fresh new look” on your therapy gym. I love the idea of a therapist spotlight, complete with pictures and bios in frames. I find that these “spotlights” (I also call them the “Rehab Resume”) are a great way to demonstrate the skills, experiences and specialties located right within our departments. What a cool idea. The outreach to local schools is another great way to raise awareness. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO SHARE YOUR IDEAS. You have been entered to win prizes for your team. ENJOY your week and be sure to send pictures! Deb

6. At Bella Vista TCC, we decided to have an open house for our staff to get to know the therapists and compete for prizes. We will have light refreshments and have staff compete in activities for each discipline OT: Jamar hand and pincher strength, Purdue pegboard dexterity test, PT TUG test and slingl leg balance test, ST memory tests.

   1. Laure,

      This sounds like a great idea for celebrating REHAB with your entire facility team. I like how you’re incorproating some of our tools and tests to enhance awareness among your fellow employees about some of the procedures and measures used in therapy and how they work. These are fun ideas and they can fit into your already busy week! THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR IDEAS. You have entered your team to win a PRIZE in honor of National Rehab Awareness Week. ENJOY. deb

7. Here at La Villa we are set to have a fun fun week. We have already began and took one of our pt’s to a local supermarket to work on getting him back into the community as he will be going home in a few weeks. The local newspaper joined us for the whole session and took pictures and interviewed him through the whole process and will run the story next week for Rehab week about his progress.Our Ed has also made flyers that will go out to the community and medical community next week that has our rehab team’s picture and what we offer at La Villa. We have a luncheon set up Monday for our Dept Heads & therapy staff to meet with our local Rehab hosptial to meet their DON’S, DOR, CFO, RT, & marketing and to discuss our community needs from a LTC facility.
   Monday we will do a “How well do you know your therpaist?”. We will ask questions about the therapist to staff and they have to come give a answer or find the resident that has the answer. The winners will get a 5 minute massage and all who play get a raffle ticket.
   Tues- Feel like a pt day. Players have to wear blurry glasses and one arm (not the dominent arm) have to use a reacher to pick up objects. They will get a raffle ticket to play and have to play within 5 minutes of being called.
   Wed- Obstacles course they will play for cupcakes and raffle tickets – they have to go in a WC between cones then to a RW to a chair get up with proper mechanics to win a cupcake and not touch a cone
   Thurs – scavenager hunt with clues thoughout the day You must have a raffle ticket to play…So you better play games all week
   Fri – Tailgate party (shhh my husband doesn’t know yet but he’s cooking) we are inviting other therapy depts from our community to come out and meet our staff.. We will also have our raffle drawing from all the raffles for a prize

   Sat & Sunday – Full Recovery MOLD

   1. Wow, Marise. That sounds like a fun week! I love how you’re incorporating your patients and thier individualized goals into different celebrations and GETTING THE LOCAL PAPER INVOLVED IS AWESOME! What a heartwarming way to inform the community about the power of rehab. It sounds like your ED is a great partner to you and your entire facility. The flyers and the luncheon with the local Rehab Hospital will be great. You have a gold mine of ideas and I really appreciate you taking the time to share. For your efforts, your team has been entered to win a PRIZE! Thank you, again, for sharing and ENJOY your week. Deb P.S. please send me a copy of the article on your patient!

8. At Osborn Health and Rehab, all our therapists take turns to give 10-20 min inservice to everyone (whoever can make it) in the facility during the week. Quiz, games and prize are offered to all participants daily. On 9/16 (Mon) SLP gives inservice on Frasier Water protocol/Diet texture/Fluid consistency. On 9/17 (Tue), PT gives inservice on TKA protocol and CPM set up. On 9/18 (Wed), OT gives inservice on resting hand splint and Kinesiotape. On 9/19 (Thu), PTA/COTA give inservice on sternal/pacemaker precautions and THA precautions. On 9/20 (Fri), other PTA/COTA pair give inservice on transfer techniques and WB precautions. We have many new department heads and nursing staff in our facility. We hope this event will give us an opportunity to introduce ourselves and get to know each other and help our rehab unit provide better rehab experience to our residents. We may not make it on time but our new T shirts to give out to our patients as a graduation gift are in process, too.

   1. Midori, Thank you so much for sharing your plans! I love the idea of inservices and quizzes combined with games. This gives you the opportunity to increase awareness AND celebrate rehabilitation. It seems like your entire team put their heads together to create a fun and interactive week! It also spotlights some of the awesome specialties and expertise you have living right there in your department! Thank you, again, for taking the time to share. You have entered your team into an opportunity to win a prize. Deb

9. Clarion Wellness and Rehab is celebrating National Rehab Awareness Week all week long! I am so glad to finally (almost) have a full team to celebrate!
   Monday: Announce the week and provide breakfast for rehab staff.
   Tuesday: Trivia for all facility staff. I will ask a question over the walkie and the first staffer to find me and correctly answer will get a prize! I will do this throughout the day. Trivia will be rehab related..(precautions, etc.)
   Wed: Open house for all staff to come in and learn about the therapy gym and new equipment, learning what may help the residents they regularly work with. Snacks provided.
   Thurs: Rehab trivia. Therapist related. The staffer who answers all correctly will get a prize.
   Fri: Lunch for rehab staff!
   We are also working on putting the finishing touches on our new therapy gym so that we can host an Chamber open house and show off our new digs to the community!

   1. Hi, Alison. It is so great to hear from you and your team about the exciting Rehab Awareness plans on tap for Clarion Wellness. I think the idea of incorporating the Open House and Rehab Trivia with the entire facility is awesome! How was your turnout? Enjoy your week and thank you for creating events to help raise awareness of rehab in your home and community. You have entered your team for the chance to win a prize! Stay tuned….Deb Bielek, Therapy Education Resource

10. To celebrate Rehab Week, we held a grip strength contest open to both patients and employees. It was held in the therapy gym to encourage all to visit our gym. We had a total of 55 participants including our administrator, Simon Mata. We had 4 categories: Strongest male patient; strongest female patient; strongest male employee and strongest female employee. We also, had a raffle for all the participants to give them a winning chance! Our therapy team donated items and we had a prize basket for each category. All the winners were so excited. There was quite a bit of buzz around the facility. Happy Rehab Week to all our great teams!!!

    1. Maricela,

       Thank you so much for reaching out to share the awesome happenings at Veranda during National Rehab Awareness week. You and your team are very creative and I think the idea of the patient and employee strength contests is fantastic! I love the idea of the raffle to create the buzz around the facility. Thank you so much for taking the time to share. You have entered your team to receive a prize. Have a great week. Deb Bielek, Therapy Education Resource

11. The Brookfield rehab team is partnering up with the Activities Department to put together a week long program that will culminate with the brookfield rehab prom to serve as our Rehab week awareness. Each day will include events that will challenge resident and facilitate therapeutic activities including dynamic balance (sitting/standing), fine motor, coordination, problem solving skills etc.
    In addition to providing a unique therapeutic experience for our patients, the partnership with the activities department will also allow the rehab team to reach more residents and family members that are not currently on the rehab case loads. This opportunity will allow the team to introduce and educated the benefits of therapy as well as demonstrate the diversity in treatment approach. More often than not, the idea of therapy to the general public involves exercise and gait training. Through a week- long celebration the team will be able to showcase how we are incorporating in everyday activities.
    Rehab Week Activities/Schedule:

    1. Monday – making of Tissue Flower/Balls (Occupational therapy activity)

    2. Tuesday – As part of therapy, has patient put up flyers and posters to advertise rehab Prom to staff and family members. This will also allow patient to be involved with the promoting of the dance to family members facilitate socialization skills as well functional task while putting up the flyers.(Physical therapy activity)

    3. Wednesday – photo Booth (both PT and OT activity)- This a activity is to allow patient to show a lighter side of their personality as well as further facilitated a sense of ownership to the dance. The pictures taken from the photo booth will be dislayed throughout the dance hall allowing family and staff to the creativity of the resident.

    4. Thursday – Boutonniere/Corsage making. (Occupational therapy)

    5. Friday – The Prom. The dance will be decorated with the tissue flowers/ball along with pictures taken from the photo booth activity. In addition there will be live music as well as refreshments for attendants.

    Will be sending pictures later…

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