Success Stories— Powerback

Joan had been living alone in a one story home with three steps to enter. She was independent with activities of daily living, home management tasks and was active in the community.

She was referred to Powerback Rehabilitation within a skilled nursing facility after undergoing a bone fusion. Due to the fusion, Joan was not able to bear weight on her left leg, leaving her unable to freely move as she wished. Additionally, this treatment required her to need assistance with all of her daily tasks. Joan was able to stand with a rolling walker from her bed with assistance from two caregivers while maintaining the recommended non weight bearing to her left foot; however, she was unable to complete a transfer.

Through hard work and the help of her therapists, Joan was happy to achieve independence for bed mobility, contact guard assist for transfers and ambulation (hopping) 30 feet with her rolling walker. She was also able to perform toileting with supervision and independently complete activities of daily living after setup with adaptive equipment.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a Virtual Home Evaluation was completed which allowed our therapy team to assist Joan in preparing for a safe discharge home. This was a pivotal time to reach Joan's goal to safely return home versus discharge to her son’s house. Thanks to our partnership with Lowe's, Powerback was able to recommend a ramp installation to the porch for access to her home, a horizontal grab bar on the right side of the toilet to increase ease of transfers and a tub transfer bench for bathing. Joan's therapists also recommended that family assist with her pet care and meals to help make her transition back home a bit easier.

Joan and her family were receptive to the recommendations and felt she could successfully return home after her rehab stay. Joan was very appreciative to all the therapists that assisted her and was ecstatic that she could in fact return safely to her home to continue to live independently! Way to go, Joan!

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