Video: Inpatient Rehabilitation at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Inpatient Rehab at CHOP

Family: Hi, welcome to CHOP Center for Rehabilitation.

Chase: My name is Chase, and these are my parents.

Cheesa: Hi, I'm Cheesa

Chad: And hello, I'm Chad

Cheesa: We want you to see the great things that happen here and meet the staff who helps kids get better.

Chase: When I was 3, I got really sick.

Chad: All together, he spent a few months in CHOP’s inpatient rehab unit.

Chase: I use to call it rehab school.

Cheesa: The therapy he did here put him on track for everything he's able to do now.

Chad: This staff is so wonderful and helpful. Let's take a second and meet some of them now.

Chase: See ya.

Kristen Czech, MSN, BSN, CRNP: Hi, I'm Kristen, I'm a nurse practitioner.

Erin Malone, RN, BSN: And I'm Erin, I'm a nurse. We're excited to take you on this tour.

Kristen Czech, MSN, BSN, CRNP: Let us give you an overview. The world-class care at CHOP continues here in the Inpatient Rehabilitation Center. If patients need specialist care, we have access to our experts from departments like oncology, neurosurgery, neurology, orthopaedics and trauma.

Erin Malone, RN, BSN: Our physicians are experts. They're trained in both pediatrics and rehabilitation.

Kristen Czech, MSN, BSN, CRNP: We create specialized rehab plans that are tailored to each patient’s needs and goals.

Erin Malone, RN, BSN: The entire rehab staff is on your team. Twice a week we all meet to discuss every single patient’s progress.

Kristen Czech, MSN, BSN, CRNP: Each patient’s therapy schedule is listed in their room. It's a busy day and a lot gets accomplished.

In rehab, you'll have a roommate. That means you'll have someone to talk to. I've seen roommates become great friends and like to play together out on the play deck.

Erin Malone, RN, BSN: You can go to therapy with your child or you can stay behind in the room and get some work done.

Erin Malone, RN, BSN: Now let's see where therapy takes place and meet some of those staff members.

Jamie Bradford, PT, DPT: Hi, I'm Jamie. I'm one of the physical therapist here on our inpatient rehab floor; welcome to our gym. We love how bright and sunny the room is. As you can see, we have some state-of-the-art equipment that can help your child regain their function and mobility. We have all the basic equipment, like parallel bars, stairs and bikes. For patients who require body weight support, we have several options. We have treadmills with harness systems. This awesome body weight support system, called the ZeroG, improves strength, coordination and balance. It eliminates the risk of falling by following you on an overhead track.

Some patients benefit from aquatic therapy. The floor of our pool can be raised or lowered to supply different amounts of support, which is a really awesome feature.

A speech language pathologist, also known as a speech therapist, works with patients who have experienced changes related to communication, speech or feeding. For children with a brain injury or illness, a speech therapist may also address cognitive deficits that affect communication. Those patients also work with a neuropsychologist to help understand the brain injury's impact on their thinking skills, including attention, memory, learning, and complex higher level abilities, as well as mood and behavior.

Now let's check out some of the occupational therapy services.

Annie Borema, MS, OTR/L: Hi, my name is Annie and this is our space for occupational therapy. We work to expand our reach, improve our mobility, and increase independence with everyday tasks. You can bake treats here in the kitchen. This improves coordination, and following a recipe can help with cognitive training. Whenever possible, we get to use ingredients that we grow in our own garden. You'll get to see that space later in this video.

This practice bathroom is essential to help us determine what kind of equipment you'll need when you go home.

We have lots of cool high-tech equipment, such as video screens that improve eye-hand coordination. This arm rotation machine improves strength and range of motion. Making sure patient performs many repetitions of a movement is vital for rehab success.

We've shown you some of the equipment that helps improve patients physically and cognitively. It's also important to consider a patient’s emotional well-being. Now we're going to meet our child life specialist.

Jessica Whittington, CCLS, CTRS: Hi, I'm Jess. As a child life specialist, I provide care and support to patients and families as they cope with the treatment and hospitalization. We provide play, therapeutic activities and so much more.

Here, in the inpatient rehab unit, kids could take part in activities that are therapeutic and fun. We offer art and music therapy as a way to encourage creative expression and process emotions.

We have a play room and a separate teen room, where in the evenings we have activities like karaoke and crafts. Tonight it's bingo! Now Erin and Chase will finish up the tour.

Chase:  Hi again. I really want to show you this. The Sea Garden

Erin Malone, RN, BSN: Tending to plants is a fun activity. Some patients’ health restricts them from digging in the dirt, but just being outside in the fresh air can always be a great way to spend some time. That brings us to the end of the tour.

Chase: We hope you find this helpful.

Erin Malone, RN, BSN: And remember, here at CHOP, we're focused on getting your kids stronger and helping them reach their fullest potential.