How A Physiotherapist Can Contribute To The Support Needs Of A Person With A Physical Disability
Caring for someone with a physical disability is a challenging responsibility, especially if the carers and families lack the necessary expertise and experience.
Seeing a physiotherapist will not only accelerate the client’s rehabilitation, but it will also assist the caregiver in gaining adequate knowledge and a better understanding of the situation.
Let’s look at the different ways physiotherapists contribute to supporting and improving your loved one’s quality of life.
What is a physiotherapist?
A physiotherapist is a medical specialist with extensive training in evaluating and treating people with physical disabilities, limitations, or illnesses. A physiotherapist’s responsibility is to assist clients in achieving their functional objectives by promoting independence.
By working on improving a client’s physical health, in turn this may also have a positive impact on their psychological wellbeing as well.
As a result, clients have better outcomes and a faster return to normalcy in their lives.
Why would you need a physiotherapist?
A physiotherapist collaborates with clients to develop a plan to help them get back as much of their functional ability and mobility as possible.
Clients of all ages, with impairments in movement and function caused by the following conditions, can benefit from a physiotherapist’s expertise:
- Physical or mental disability
- Medical issues – i.e. diagnosed illness and/or condition
- Injuries
- Aging
- Issues with weight
Treatment by physiotherapists includes the following, among others:
- Physical rehabilitation using exercise
- Manual therapy and massage
- Stimulation devices or assistive technology
- Patient education
In other words, they help clients of all ages feel better and live healthier lives by assisting them with mobility concerns, pain management, and illness prevention.
The role of a physiotherapist in assisting a person with disability
A person with disability may have unique needs when it comes to their mobility. Different disabilities may require different approaches to physiotherapy. A physiotherapist can greatly assist a person with mobility issues and pain associated with particular disabilities via a personalised approach.
A physiotherapist can assist with the following:
Improving posture
Nothing is more effective than physiotherapy when correcting posture and rebalancing the body. Back pain, spinal dysfunction, joint degeneration and rounded shoulders are all consequences of bad posture.
St. Jude’s physiotherapists combine hands-on treatment with exercises to help release shortened and tight muscles, while strengthening the muscles that support the spine to help maintain good body alignment.
Regaining balance and strength
Difficulties with your balance can induce dizziness and the sensation of spinning or moving while you are standing or sitting motionless. As a result, you may have physical discomfort, impacting your daily life.
In worse cases, limitations in balance and strength may also result in falls, resulting in broken bones and other injuries.
Physiotherapists can identify, diagnose, and help treat your balance or neurological problems by identifying their causes. They will teach you some physical exercises and active movement techniques to improve your balance and strength, such as position awareness, visual tracking, and inner ear retraining.
Fine and gross motor skills development
If a person with disability has a delay in motor skills, physiotherapy is an excellent option to explore. These motor delays can be due to congenital conditions such as cerebral palsy, developmental disability, or muscular dystrophy. Adults may also have these impairments secondary to neurologic disorders such as multiple sclerosis or stroke.
Starting physical therapy for a person with disability as soon as feasible is critical to developing and improving someone’s motor abilities.
Similarly, some members of the elderly population would benefit from practicing and relearning motor skills, especially in the case that their motor skills are declining with age.
At St. Jude’s, physical therapy sessions for gross motor deficits may involve the following activities to promote independence and better health:
- Stretching exercises
- Tactile play, such as sand or water play
- Gait training
- Feet and ankle alignment using shoe inserts
- Assignment of at-home exercises
Management of musculoskeletal issues
Musculoskeletal problems can affect almost any body part, including the back, neck, arms, hands, and feet. Carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, and sciatica are a few examples. Improper lifting of heavy objects, repetitive pressure, injury, or other trauma can all contribute to these problems.
Physiotherapy aids the patient’s healing process and prevents secondary complications from developing.
What to expect from St Jude’s physiotherapy
We understand that any disability, whether physical or mental, is complicated for everyone concerned and requires a wide range of skills and knowledge to meet the requirements of those who live with it. Thus, we are continually looking for ways to give people pain-free movement and development while also supporting them with social inclusion.
Furthermore, we believe that enabling people to be active and independent is critical in sustaining their identity in their homes and outside of residential care, regardless of physical or mental disability.
St. Jude’s is proud to offer high quality NDIS Physiotherapy services for our clients. We are registered and accredited by the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Our Disability Support Services are tailor-fit, creative, and responsive to the needs of people with physical disabilities and psychosocial issues.
We also offer in-home physiotherapy services, where a physiotherapist will come to a client’s home to provide treatment. This is so that our physiotherapy services are more accessible to all of our client’s who would benefit from it.
Our NDIS Physiotherapists in both our WA and QLD locations are available immediately for client treatment. Contact us today for more information on how you or your loved one can benefit from our fantastic physiotherapy services.
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