Parkview Noble Hospital’s Rehabilitation Department has recently partnered with the Cole Center Family YMCA in Kendallville to develop an Aquatic Therapy program and patients will begin the water exercise starting next week.
The individualized therapy sessions are set to start up at the YMCA Tuesday, August 25, and benefit numerous health conditions, such as orthopaedic pain, joint replacements, cardiovascular accidents (stroke), fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis, weakness, balance deficits, arthritis and many others.
“I am very excited about offering this service in our community,” said Julie Herr, manager of the Parkview Noble Rehabilitation Department. “At Parkview we talk about win-win-win scenarios for our patients, staff and physicians. This new service will be just that - a win-win-win for our patients, our staff and our community partner, the Cole Center YMCA.”
Sandy Berendt, the new Aquatics Director at the YMCA echoed Herr’s sentiments. “I am really excited we can partner with Parkview Noble to offer this program to the people in our community,” she added. “The water is so soothing to muscles and joints, I know this type of exercise (in the water) is very beneficial.”
The idea to add aquatic therapy as part of the programs offered to patients was suggested to Herr by members of her rehab team of therapists and therapist assistants. “Shortly after joining our team last year, Matt Yoder, one of our physical therapists, asked me if we had ever thought about offering aquatic therapy,” Herr explained. “His interest in and experience with aquatic therapy were the motivators for me to look into it further.”
Yoder, along with Physical Therapist Assistants, Elizabeth Lash and Elizabeth Yates will be providing care in the pool.
There are many benefits of aquatic therapy that contribute to the healing process. These include buoyancy, hydrostatic pressure, viscosity and water temperature. Another benefit is that patients utilizing aquatic therapy will no longer need to drive to Fort Wayne for treatment.
Yoder said his goal through therapy is to help the patient have an improved quality of life. “I look at offering aquatic therapy to our community as another avenue for our patients to recover from injury, improve their function and mobility, as well as to promote an overall healthy lifestyle.”
Physical therapist assistant Elizabeth Lash is also excited to see the local aquatic program get underway. “I think a lot of my patients will really benefit from aquatic therapy,” Lash said. “It is easier for them to do their strengthening, balance and gait activities due to the patient having more control over their weight while in the water. Especially for people with chronic pain, this form of therapy is so much better, more soothing and easier on their bodies.”
Therapy patient Vickie Howard, of Kendallville, who has been traveling to Fort Wayne for her aquatic therapy, is happy to have the local program getting underway. Howard is recovering from a stroke and has relied on her daughter, Wendy, to drive her back and forth to the therapy sessions in Fort Wayne. “We are really happy to see the pool therapy start up here in Kendallville,” Howard said. “It is saving us a lot of time not having to drive to Fort Wayne any more.”
Howard also visits the Parkview Noble outpatient rehabilitation office twice a week for land (traditional) therapy. During her therapy sessions, she is working on walking, strengthening her left side and regaining balance. Her recovery is progressing better, she said, because of her aquatic therapy. “It is much easier for me to walk in the water than on land,” she explained. “I just think things come back to you faster with the pool therapy. The use of my leg is coming back faster than my left arm, but the therapists told me that would probably be the case.”
Howard enthusiastically supports aquatic therapy. “I have learned it is easier to do my exercises in the water,” she said, “I really feel like I’m getting there. I would recommend it to anyone. It makes therapy fun and easy.”
Like other therapy services, a physician order is required for patients wanting to try aquatic therapy. An evaluation will be done at the outpatient therapy department and the therapist and patient will discuss the best treatment options. If aquatic therapy is recommended, the patient will be seen at the YMCA.
Individualized aquatic therapy sessions are 30-45 minutes in length and take place on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings between 8 a.m. and noon. The program will be able to expand to include Friday sessions if there is need for more pool time.
For more information about aquatic therapy or any of the therapy services offered (physical, occupational or speech), call the Parkview Noble Rehabilitation Department at (260) 347-8824 or toll free at 1-(888) 737-9311, ext. 78824.