close

What are the typical goals of physical therapy after a spinal cord injury? - Elaine Rogers, PT

What are the typical goals of physical therapy after a spinal cord injury?

Elaine Rogers, PT

Physical Therapist, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle

Read Bio More Videos by Elaine Rogers
Transcript
I usually have four areas for my goals. The first goal is in relation to bed mobility-how do you move around in bed?-and that goal might be for you to be independent in moving your body in bed, or independent in teaching someone else how to move your... Show More

I usually have four areas for my goals. The first goal is in relation to bed mobility-how do you move around in bed?-and that goal might be for you to be independent in moving your body in bed, or independent in teaching someone else how to move your body for you. Then I look at transfers-how are you getting from the bed to a wheelchair, or getting up to standing and the goal would be for you to be as independent as possible in transfers from one surface to another, and then I would qualify whether I expected you to be able to something as extreme as getting up off the floor, or into a tall vehicle. The third area would be in moving around in space, so either typically a walking goal if that’s appropriate for someone with an incomplete spinal cord injury, and/or a wheelchair goal-so how are you going to independently move your wheelchair and on what sort of surfaces might we expect you to be on. And again as much independence as possible is the desirable outcome. And then my fourth goal is always related to exercise, and weight management and being able to take care of your body. So the goal is generally fairly generic of being independent and a stretching and strengthening program.

Show Less
add

What are the typical goals of physical therapy after a spinal cord injury?

Elaine Rogers, PT

Physical Therapist, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle

More Videos by Elaine Rogers
Transcriptadd

I usually have four areas for my goals. The first goal is in relation to bed mobility-how do you move around in bed?-and that goal might be for you to be independent in moving your body in bed, or independent in teaching someone else how to move your body for you. Then I look at transfers-how are you getting from the bed to a wheelchair, or getting up to standing and the goal would be for you to be as independent as possible in transfers from one surface to another, and then I would qualify whether I expected you to be able to something as extreme as getting up off the floor, or into a tall vehicle. The third area would be in moving around in space, so either typically a walking goal if that’s appropriate for someone with an incomplete spinal cord injury, and/or a wheelchair goal-so how are you going to independently move your wheelchair and on what sort of surfaces might we expect you to be on. And again as much independence as possible is the desirable outcome. And then my fourth goal is always related to exercise, and weight management and being able to take care of your body. So the goal is generally fairly generic of being independent and a stretching and strengthening program.

What are the typical goals of physical therapy after a spinal cord injury?
close