JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute’s Inpatient Parkinson’s Wellness Program Helps Prevent Falls and Hospital Admissions
Safety-focused short-term inpatient experience helps at-risk patients adapt to symptoms and lifestyle changes
Hackensack Meridian JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute recently launched a Parkinson’s Wellness Program, a unique, two-week inpatient rehabilitation experience for people living with Parkinson’s disease. One of the few programs of its kind in the country, the multidisciplinary program aims to prevent traumatic hospital readmissions by proactively addressing the multifaceted problems a person with Parkinson’s may face in daily life.
Whether it is adjusting medications, decreasing falls, improving voice quality or gaining more independence with activities of daily living, the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute’s Parkinson’s Wellness Program customizes the treatment approach for each patient’s stay. The program is particularly focused on safety and reducing hospital admissions. Criteria for the program includes those who may be experiencing frequent falls at home, a “freezing” gait, the need for medication adjustment, or worsening swallowing problems. Such at-risk patients may be identified by physicians in the outpatient setting.
“The team of rehabilitation medicine physicians, neurologists and specialized therapists identified the need to help people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease who are not acutely ill or severely disabled but who struggle greatly at home with the symptoms and lifestyle changes that Parkinson’s disease brings,” said Sara Cuccurullo, M.D., Chair, Medical Director and Vice President, JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute. “In our new program, patients are admitted from their homes to participate in an individualized, multidisciplinary and targeted two-week inpatient rehabilitation program that helps them restore and maintain their function.”
A patient’s initial assessment is completed by physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute and neurologists specializing in movement disorders at Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center’s Neuroscience Institute.
These doctors work with rehabilitation nurses, physical and occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, social workers, rehabilitation psychologists, pharmacists, nutritionists and exercise physiologists to create a customized, comprehensive treatment plan based on a patient’s health and specific goals. Resources, education and equipment recommendations are provided based on an individual’s needs. Families and caretakers are welcomed to participate in the program.
After the two-week inpatient stay, patients are transitioned to outpatient services, as appropriate to enhance their continued approach to living well with Parkinson’s disease.
Learn more about innovative rehabilitative care at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute.
