Comprehensive Inpatient Services for Persons Served Who Have Experienced A Stroke

Our Program
On With Life's team forms a partnership with persons whom we are privileged to serve and their families/support system to provide services that focus on minimizing impairment, reducing activity limitations, maximizing the quality of life, and preventing cardiovascular complications, including stroke recurrences.

Our Team
Our stroke team includes Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, a Music Therapist, Recreation Therapists, a Neuropsychologist, Nurses, Certified Nursing Assistants and our Case Management staff. This team keeps up on the latest developments in assessment and treatment of stroke, and attends regional and national conferences related to stroke issues. Our staff and persons served regularly attend the "Stroke Club" at a local hospital.

Our Services
Our interventions focus on:

• Assessing and treating conditions related to stroke and its complications
• Identifying and reducing the risk factors for concurrent strokecomplications
• Maintaining Medical Stability
• Maximizing functional independence and performance
• Enhancing psychological and social coping and adaptation skills
• Promoting community integration and participation in life roles
• Providing services for families/support system
• Preventing secondary complications
• Developing a smooth transition plan

We provide verbal and visual-based education to persons served and their families about common stroke symptom clusters. Each person receives a Stroke Manual and we also have educational books and booklets related to the most common symptom clusters that can accompany a stroke. The symptom clusters/conditions specifically treated and addressed therapeutically and educationally include:

• memory/learning deficits
• hemiplegia/Hemiparesis
• executive Functioning/cognitive deficits
• aphasia and other communication disorders
• apraxia
• incontinence
• right and left hemisphere dysfunctions
• dysarthria
• dysphagia
• skin integrity
• hearing loss
• visual deficits
• perceptual deficits
• nutritional compromise

Our stroke team addresses prevention of cardiovascular complications, deficiencies, deformities, infections, mood disturbances, pain and trauma. On With Life's Internist Medical Director, Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine Medical Director, and Consulting Psychiatrist each have specific experience, and expertise regarding stroke and stroke treatment. On With Life has a specialty niche, which is not found in most rehabilitation facilities in the country, in working with individuals who are in a coma or minimally responsive condition, including persons who have sustained such conditions as the result of a stroke.

Our Outcomes
Our outcome management system focuses on specific outcomes for persons served with a diagnosis of stroke. Outcomes relative to clinical effectiveness, program efficiency, and customer satisfaction of persons served, families/support systems, funders and referral sources, are routinely analyzed and utilized to enhance our services. Here is information from fiscal year 2009 which ended on June 30, 2009:

• We served 40 persons who had experienced a stroke.
• 20 were men and 20 were women.
• Their average length of stay was 73 days.
• Their average age was 59. Age range was 44-77.
• When they left On With Life, 23 went home, 9 went to a skilled nursing facility, 7 went to an assisted living setting, and 4 went to a residential facility.
• We consistently measure the level of function that each person served has, at the beginning of person's program throughout person's stay, to the end of person's stay and after the person served leaves On With Life:


• 93% of all persons served showed improvement
• Two out of three showed at least 25% improvement
• The average percent improvement on our functional outcome measure was 31%.
• Our customer satisfaction surveys showed a 91 % satisfaction with our services.
• The average number of hours of therapy provided each work day (Monday through Friday) to each person served was 3.2 core therapy hours. Total average therapy hours, including Therapeutic Recreation, were 3.9 hours.
• On average, each individual reached 71% of their goals