Legacy physical therapists work toward helping residents regain function, improve mobility, and relieve pain and discomfort. Furthermore, they seek to prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities of those suffering from injuries or disease.

The primary focus of physical therapy, through exercise and functional skill training, is ambulation and mobility. Notably, physical therapists can work with residents who are ambulatory or in a bed or wheelchair. In conjunction with strengthening, range of motion, balance, and coordination exercises, the use of various modalities – like electrical stimulation, biofeedback, ultrasound, and heat/cold applications – help residents reach their goals.

Physical therapists and their assistants offer specialized care for a number of indications, including the following:

• CVA or stroke
• Decreased body movement
• Difficulty walking or muscular weakness
• Edema/swelling
• Fractures
• Joint replacements
• Limited joint motions
• Pain
• Problems with balance and coordination: cane or walker recommendations
• Splints or braces
• Wheelchair recommendations

While physical and occupational therapies aim to improve quality of life, it’s important to note the differences between the two. Physical therapy addresses strength, pain, endurance, joint range of motion, and gross motor functioning. Occupational therapy, on the other hand, deals with cognitive and reasoning abilities and anything that occupies a resident’s day, and compensates for any permanent loss of function.

Simply put, Legacy occupational therapists help residents improve their ability to perform the tasks of daily living. The primary goal of the specialists’ innovative treatments is to enable clients to lead a more productive, independent, and satisfying life.

Occupational therapists and therapy assistants offer specialized care in a number of areas:

• Activities to restore upper extremity strength, gross and fine motor coordination, and hand function
• Adaptive equipment for self-care, home management, mobility, and recreation
• Community mobility
• Continence management
• Driving safely
• Functional mobility and body mechanics: bed, wheelchair, tub, toilet, car, etc.
• Home management: cooking, housekeeping, laundry, and shopping
• Home modification recommendations
• Perceptual and cognitive skills
• Self-care: eating, bathing, dressing, grooming, hygiene
• Upper extremity orthotics and splints
• Visual impairments
• Work simplification, energy conservation, and joint protection techniques

Legacy speech-language pathologists assess, diagnose, treat, and help prevent disorders related to speech, language, cognitive communication, voice, swallowing, and fluency. Specialists work with residents facing the following challenges:

• Cognitive communication impairments, such as attention, memory, and problem-solving disorders
• Inability to produce speech sounds or to produce them clearly
• Problems understanding and producing language
• Speech rhythm and fluency problems, such as stuttering
• Swallowing difficulties

Both individual and group speech therapy is available to address residents’ specific treatment needs. Additionally, Legacy speech-language pathologists offer specialized care for the following concerns:

• Speech disorders resulting from progressive neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease
• Deficits in thought processing and/or language, and/or difficulty speaking
• Aphasia – a language disorder resulting from a stroke in the left hemisphere of the brain
• Dysarthria – weakness of the oral musculature, causing various degrees of slurring of speech
• Dysphagia – difficulty in eating due to swallowing deficits