Rehabilitation Team

What is Rehabilitation?

• Rehabilitation helps people who have had changes in their abilities as a result of injury or illness.
• Rehabilitation aims to help you function your best at home, at work or in your leisure time.
• Rehabilitation is a team approach – you are the centre of this team.

The Rehabilitation team

Everyone’s needs are different. Your rehabilitation team may include some or all of the following disciplines.

• Medicine (doctor)
  • Manages your medical care during your time in rehabilitation.
  • Communicates with your family doctor or other specialists as appropriate.
• Nursing
  • Helps with any nursing care needs (e.g. bowel or bladder care, skin or foot care, review of medications).
• Therapeutic recreation
  • Helps you develop and use your leisure time in ways that improve your health, independence and quality of life.
• Psychology
  • Assesses and treats changes that may occur in your concentration, thinking and memory.
  • Helps you to better cope with the stress that may come with changes to your health.
• Occupational therapy
  • Helps you reach your highest level of function in activities important to you.
  • Improves your skills for everyday tasks such as self-care, work or leisure.
  • Assesses home, work or school setting to suggest equipment or adaptations to make access easier.
  • Assesses your memory and thinking skills.
  • Assesses driving skills.
• Physiotherapy
  • Improves and maintains your physical abilities.
  • Helps manage and prevent physical impairments.
• Clinical nutrition
  • Assesses your nutritional intake and needs.
  • Educates you on managing eating and nutrition issues if needed.
  • Suggests ways to change food texture if you have swallowing problems.
• Social work
  • Helps you and your family adjust to changes in your life resulting from your health issues.
  • Builds on your present strengths and resources.
  • Where needed, advocates for community-based support services to improve quality of life
• Speech-Language pathology
  • Assesses and treats communication problems including reading, writing, speech and language.
  • Assesses and treats swallowing difficulties.
  • Educates family members and caregivers on how to make communication with you easier and as successful as possible.
• Orthotist
  • Designs, makes, and fits custom braces to improve or maintain your mobility.
  • Designs and provides orthopedic footwear or shoe modifications (e.g. lifts).
  • Designs, makes, and provides products to assist with diabetic foot ulcer prevention and healing.
• Prosthetist
  • Designs, makes and provides artificial limbs (prostheses) for people with arm or leg amputations.