Follow
Share

I need to know how long a physical therapy session should be held with a person with alzheimer's because they become very angry at the mention of the therapists name. I feel an hour without breaks is too long.

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
my mom just completed physical therapy. Each session was an hour, with breaks for water or just to catch breath, bathroom or whatever. The length of the sessions may be dictated by insurance. If I think about it my mom would warm up on a stationary bike for 10 minutes, break for water, then do another exercise, never more than one set of 12 exercises. So, in a half an hour, warm up, and maybe two exercises would get completed. The second half hour is similar, but longer rest periods.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report

Are you having your moms physical therapy at home? For my mom, the Home Care Service sent an evaluating RN to the house following a hospital stay where she needed to get her strength back. PT & OT was ordered. the PT came first and in spite of the fact that l told her that my mom had two bad shoulders that would have had joint replacement had she not been 94, the PT insisted that my mom use the stretchy bands to exercise her arms. I objected but my mom tended to be medically compliant so she did it and said it wasn't bothering her. But that afternoon and evening she was miserable from discomfort that her pain meds could not contain, and that night she couldn't sleep from excess aching. I told the PT on the next session that we weren't going to do the arms, but she pitched a fit, saying my mom would not improve, and she had to be allowed to do her job, blah blah. I said no, we would just do the other work, not the arms. Ms. PT did the rest of a shorter session with the silent treatment and the cold shoulder. Brrrrr. I called the company and they assigned another PT. The replacement came, had a completely different background experience, and we ended up working perfectly with her twice a week for 10 weeks because she worked within my moms limitations. When the OT supervisor came to evaluate, he was very kind and because of my moms condition and her age, & after he learned of the PT difficulty, he decided to treat my mom himself and we ended up having a very good OT experience.

If you can't get through to someone who's being a knucklehead, call the supervisor or the social worker at the company providing the service and ask for a replacement. The number of treatments allowed for physical therapy is short. You don't want to waste it them on a stubborn, uncooperative or insensitive therapist who can't acknowledge your moms needs.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

Zero time with this therapist, find another person, it is not a good fit.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter