Life changes in an instant when you or a loved one suffers a catastrophic injury. The road to recovery is often overwhelming as you face extensive treatments, mounting medical costs, and uncertainty about the future—all because of someone else’s negligence.
At Dortch Lindstrom Livingston Law Group, we understand that comprehensive rehabilitation is critical for rebuilding your life after a severe injury. Our Texas catastrophic injury lawyers partner with medical experts to document your current and future needs. This ensures your settlement includes coverage for treatments that help you regain independence and improve your quality of life. But what therapy and rehabilitation options should be included?
Types of Rehabilitation Programs for Catastrophic Injuries
The path to recovery after a severe medical incident isn't one-size-fits-all. Your care team creates a rehabilitation plan designed to meet your specific needs, abilities, and progress.
Acute Inpatient: Intensive Hospital-Based Care
This provides the highest level of post-injury treatment. You'll stay in a specialized hospital unit while receiving at least three hours of therapy daily, 24-hour nursing, and daily physician visits to monitor your condition. Medical equipment and emergency care are immediately available if needed.
This level of care typically benefits patients with severe injuries such as spinal cord trauma, traumatic brain injuries, or extensive burns. Most patients spend up to four weeks in acute rehabilitation.
Subacute: Building Strength in a Specialized Facility
These facilities offer structured environments with daily therapy sessions but less medical oversight than acute care. You'll work with therapists to improve mobility, self-care skills, and independence while having nursing support available when needed.
Patients in this setting no longer need intensive medical care but aren't ready to return home. The typical stay ranges from a few weeks to several months.
Outpatient: Continuing Recovery While Living at Home
You’ll attend therapy sessions several times per week, either individually or in group therapy programs. This flexibility helps you maintain progress in recovery while resuming some normal daily activities.
Many patients transition to outpatient care after completing an inpatient program. Others may start with outpatient rehabilitation if their injuries are less severe but still require professional treatment.
Home-Based: Therapy in Your Daily Environment
Therapists come to your residence to assess your living space and recommend modifications or adaptive equipment to improve safety and independence.
This option particularly benefits patients who have difficulty traveling to outpatient facilities or need help learning to navigate their home environment with new physical limitations.
Day Programs: Structured Support With Community Integration
As another rehabilitation option, you'll spend several hours each day at a rehab facility participating in various therapies and activities. These programs often include meals and social interaction with other people before you return home each evening.
This level of care helps patients who need ongoing support but can safely live at home. Day programs typically combine medical care, therapy services, and social activities to support overall recovery.
Essential Types of Therapy in Catastrophic Injury Recovery
At Dortch Lindstrom Livingston Law Group, our intention is to protect your legal rights and structure an injury settlement that considers all treatment options necessary to help you achieve maximum medical improvement. For example, your rehabilitation care plan might require various therapies, so we want to make sure to highlight them in the potential financial recovery of your case. Here are some examples.
- Physical. This approach improves strength, balance, coordination, and mobility. Your physical therapist creates exercises to help you relearn movement patterns and prevent complications from decreased activity.
- Occupational. You’ll learn strategies for performing daily activities like eating, dressing, and personal care. Your occupational therapist might also recommend adaptive equipment.
- Speech and language. Through this process, you’ll address communication difficulties, swallowing problems, and cognitive issues that often occur after brain injuries.
- Recreational. This method uses leisure activities to improve physical and cognitive abilities while boosting emotional well-being. Activities might include adaptive sports, art projects, or music therapy.
- Psychological counseling. It’s essential to your overall well-being to learn how to deal with the emotional impact of your injury. A mental health professional provides strategies for managing anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress.
How Rehabilitation Benefits Different Types of Catastrophic Injuries
Each severe personal injury creates unique recovery challenges. Here's how different types of rehabilitation programs address them.
- Spinal cord injuries. Your plan combines mobility equipment training, bowel and bladder management strategies, and strengthening exercises to prevent complications and maximize independence. The focus is on helping you develop new skills while maintaining function in unaffected areas.
- Traumatic brain injuries. Rehab targets cognitive, physical, and emotional recovery through specialized therapy. Programs include exercises for memory and concentration, speech therapy, and balance training to help you regain lost abilities.
- Severe burns. There’s an emphasis on proper wound care while preventing joint stiffness and managing pain. Therapists teach you strategies for skin care, mobility exercises, and techniques to protect healing tissue during daily activities.
- Amputations. Usually, there’s integrated physical therapy combined with specialized prosthetic training. You'll learn residual limb care and strengthening exercises, too.
- Compounded trauma. A coordinated treatment plan combines physical therapy, pain management, and psychological support to help you overcome multiple recovery challenges.
While the timeline for settling your case may be lengthy, you only have one thing to focus on in the meantime: your health. Trust our skilled Dallas catastrophic injury legal team to take care of the rest.
