- The hospital, which has been managed by the Ribera health group for a year and a half, has a multidisciplinary team made up of a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, nurses, assistants and doctors, who help patients with brain damage to recover their autonomy in activities as much as possible. basics of daily life
- It provides personalized attention and a leading program in Extremadura that works on spasticity/hypotonia, attention, and communication, teaches the use of technical aids such as walkers and canes, and uses the most appropriate physical or verbal adaptations to promote patient autonomy.
Almendralejo, April 5, 2022 - Ribera Almendralejo Hospital has a care program for patients with brain damage, highly specialized in neurological, cognitive, behavioral and mobility problems caused by musculoskeletal disorders. The team that cares for them is multidisciplinary and is made up of a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist, nurses, assistants and doctors.
Clara Ginés, an occupational therapist from Ribera Almendralejo, explains that "one of the characteristics of brain damage is the variability in its sequelae, which requires an individualized and patient-centered approach to care." Patients admitted to this hospital with brain damage are medium- or long-stay patients who "stay with us until their full recovery or until they are referred to a specific center."
Some of the most frequent alterations that work in Ribera Almendralejo with patients with brain damage are neurological, such as those involving motor deficits, hemiparesis, loss of fine or gross dexterity or balance disorders; musculoskeletal disorders, the most frequent being hypertonia and spasticity; cognitive alterations, such as memory disorders and attention and concentration difficulties; and behavioral disturbances, such as decreased ability to initiate responses, sudden or continued agitation, or low self-awareness, among others.
The occupational therapist at the Ribera Almendralejo hospital explains that the team specialized in these patients with brain damage plans and implements the treatment "based on the objectives we want to achieve with the patient." To achieve these objectives, he assures, "we work on autonomy in basic activities of daily life, depending on the degree of affectation of each one, to help them recover, to the extent of each one's possibilities, their independence for food, bathing, toileting or dressing”. To do this, she adds, the most appropriate adaptations are used in each case "by means of physical and/or verbal aids, so that the patient can do it as independently as possible."
Spasticity and hypotonia that some patients present are also worked on, through active and passive mobilizations, as well as sensitivity, "which is usually very affected" and the integration of one part of their body. “Many times they are not aware of the side that has been affected by brain damage,” he explains.
And since the alterations are often not only physical, the care program for patients with brain damage at the Ribera Almendralejo hospital also works on care, "in order to achieve more communication between the patient and the health professionals and, above all, with their family and his or her environment".
The team at this center teaches these patients the use of "technical aids" that are often necessary after these episodes, such as walkers and canes. “What is intended is for the patient to achieve the greatest degree of independence possible for their hospital discharge,” she explains.
