New hope for stroke survivors

     The Adena Greenfield Medical Center has again expanded its services to the community offering cutting edge treatment techniques through the therapy department.  In addition to offering exceptional inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation for people experiencing a new stroke, the Adena Greenfield Medical Center is offering hope to people who have been living with the effects of a stroke for months or years after.

     People who continue to have difficulty using their arm or hand after the initial therapy has ended may benefit from an intensive outpatient program called Modified Constraint Induced Therapy.  The Occupational Therapy department at Adena Greenfield Medical Center, after much research, has developed this specific program to improve the use of the arm and hand long after the stroke originally occurred.  A similar program at the University Hospital in Cincinnati has seen results even ten years after a stroke.

     The Modified Constraint Induced program is highly effective because it strongly emphasizes a person’s participation outside of the therapy clinic.  Research shows that improvement in the use of the arm and hand will occur when a person consistently and methodically uses it over and over.  Modeling their techniques after other successful programs, the Occupational Therapy Department at Adena Greenfield Medical Center asks each patient to use only the weaker arm five hours everyday outside of the therapy clinic.  To further increase the effectiveness, the stronger arm is placed in a sling as a reminder not to use it during those five hours.  The client also receives individual Occupational Therapy treatment three times a week to monitor progress and upgrade the home exercises as use of the arm and hand improve.

     The power of this approach is the repetitive use of the weaker arm at home in activities that are meaningful to the person.  As in most other situations, practice produces improvement.    The Occupational Therapist works with each person to identify the specific problems present and make a home program that will help reach the specific goals that the person wants to reach.

     Modified Constraint Induced Therapy is also unique as it consistently provides results for people months and even years after a stroke.  It is not uncommon to reach a point in traditional therapy when progress slows after a new stroke.  Because Modified Constraint Induced Therapy is so different from traditional therapy, clients who meet the criteria can again improve the use of their arm and hand.

     As with all Occupational Therapy, a doctor must write a prescription for this specific treatment.  Since this program is more intense than traditional therapy sessions, there are certain criteria that clients must meet to ensure that this therapy is effective.  The Occupational Therapists at Adena Greenfield Medical Center are very excited about this new opportunity for the community and are more than happy to talk with motivated people and their doctors about this new program.  Adena Greenfield is very proud to lead stroke rehabilitation in the area by offering such advanced techniques in stroke care.