A home away from home at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital will help patients recovering from serious injuries to take the next big step.
The hospital has added a model apartment, complete with a working kitchen, bath and washer and dryer, to a newly expanded inpatient acute rehabilitation unit.
“During the day, patients will practice in here to gauge their independence, and at night, it will be like staying in a hotel,” explained Joanne Callahan, occupational therapist on the unit.
A person’s closest family member or caregiver will spend the night, and both will experience what it will be like to return home and move toward the next level of independence. The patient sleeps in a standard bed in a separate bedroom, while the family member uses a pull-out couch in the adjoining living room.
“It’s experiential learning,” Callahan said. “We want patients to be confident in their own abilities, to realize what they can and can’t do.”
The overnight stay also provides training for caregivers and helps them decide whether they will need additional help at home on a short- or long-term basis, she said.
“Caregivers often struggle with ‘how much do I help them, and how much do I encourage them to do themselves,’” Callahan said. “We want them to realize, ‘I’m not in this alone.’”
The unit is designed for patients recovering from strokes, brain injuries, spine injuries and various types of surgeries. Some patients will become fully independent again quickly, while others may require assistance for longer.
Though the unit has a flat screen TV, the latest appliances and trendy tile and decorating touches, it is not fully handicapped accessible.
“We want to have some obstacles here. Otherwise, when patients get home, their level of frustration would be worse,” Callahan said. “We want to set them up for success. What they will experience here is similar to most home environments.”
In addition to taking a shower and getting dressed, patients learn how to cook, rearrange a kitchen, do laundry and change bedding.
“We teach work simplification and energy conservation,” Callahan said. “After surgery, you only have so much energy. We want to teach people how to replenish and increase it.”
Successfully navigating an independent overnight stay in the apartment is like passing a final exam on the rehabilitation unit and the chance to go home after a good deal of hard work. The overall program is intense.
“You have to be able to tolerate three hours of therapy a day for five days,” said Amanda Keizer, clinical coordinator of the unit. “The average length of stay is 11 days.”
The apartment is a new addition to the acute rehabilitation program and part of an overall redesign and expansion moving the unit from Adventist Hinsdale Hospital to an underused space in the La Grange complex. Hinsdale patients are scheduled to move to La Grange Jan. 5.
“We needed space to maximize the potential of our patients,” said Fides O’Hara, nurse manager since 2001, who started on the night shift in 1986 in Hinsdale.
The renovation has allowed a consolidation of services all on one floor. It features the latest equipment to benefit patients with enhanced safety and prevent injury among staff members who lift and work with them. Doorways are extra wide, and patients can wheel into bathroom showers.
The unit’s most important assets are the caring and skilled therapists, O’Hara said, noting that 69 percent have completed advanced rehabilitation certification.
Jane Mitchell, director of behavioral health and rehabilitation, said unit staff members are thrilled with the additional space and equipment.
“We’ve had excellent outcomes in our current facility, but this new state-of-the art facility will allow us to exceed what we’ve already done,” she said.