Rehabilitation for the Frail or Cognitively Impaired Older Adult

According to the National Institute of Health, frailty in older adults is the leading cause of disability, hospitalization,and mortality. Conditions most often associated with frailty include cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, Alzheimer's, and infectious disease. Additionally, numerous studies now suggest that sarcopenia (age related loss of muscle mass) is identified as a leading cause of frailty.In fact, sarcopenia is increasingly observed as a disease among pathologists. For rehabilitation therapists, frailty often presents challenges as these patients tend to rehab slowly, have limited participation, and meager outcomes. This creates treatment and documentation challenges that canlead to reimbursement problems, shorter coverage by managed plans, and subsequent hospital readmissions. However, resistive exercise, participation in activities of dailyliving, and cognitive stimulation is the best treatment regimen for frailty. Therefore, rehabilitation therapists are charged with problem-solving ways to motivate and advocate for this vulnerable patient population.

This timely course will equip you with the tools needed for effective assessment, goal writing, treatment and documentation of low-level patients to ensure that their delicate needs are met. Learn quick and easy standardized tests and measures to ascertain an objective analysis of function. Build your library of treatment protocols to motivate your patients, maximize therapy participation, and improve outcomes. Also, learn valuable documentation strategies to help prevent denials and premature termination of skilled coverage. Return to work with a renewed sense of confidence in your skills to treat frail or cognitively impaired patients with the satisfaction of making a difference in this vulnerable population and being a true change agent as a healthcare industry leader.

Target Audience: Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants, Speech-Language Pathologists

Highlights

• Immediately improve your assessment and treatment strategies for patients with chronic, debilitating conditions and/or cognitive deficits
• The best standardized tests for comprehensive assessment & outcome measures
• Gain confidence in responding to therapy referrals for frequent fallers
• Take away documentation strategies to justify skilled services even with little, to no progress