NovaCare Rehabilitation creates rehab focused on COVID-19

There is a physical therapy program available in Minnesota specifically designed for people suffering from lingering side effects of COVID-19.

NovaCare Rehabilitation created a ‘COVID-19 Recovery and Reconditioning Program’ that is accepting patients at multiple clinics across the state.

"The idea of being able to be part of a program that’s finding new ways to help this new kind of patient population, you just feel like you’re on the cutting edge of something," said Jessika Lackie, an occupational therapist at NovaCare who helps run the program in Minnesota.

Around 35% of people who become sick with COVID-19 do not return to full health within a few weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some of the so-called ‘long-haulers’ may deal with health problems for months.

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"We dissected all the symptoms and side effects that people were experiencing and we said, what can we do to benefit these patients? So we’re really trying to address all of it, the cardiovascular issues, the respiratory, the musculoskeletal, the cognitive and emotional pieces, the full experience of COVID-19," Lackie said.

She said the program takes a comprehensive approach to address the array of health concerns impacting COVID-19 survivors, such as:

• Balance and stability
• Cardiac issues
• Consequences of clotting disorders, including stroke and amputation
• Cognitive or memory impairments
• Decreased endurance and limited breathing capability
• Dizziness or vertigo
• Functional mobility and activities of daily living issues
• General fatigue
• Musculoskeletal pain or soreness
• Range of motion limitations
• Weakness

"When I came here, I was just at an all-time low. I thought, I can’t walk up the stairs, I can’t take my dog for a walk, I can’t lift anything, I can’t work," said Sophia Schoolmeesters, an Elk River woman who is recovering from COVID-19. "I had to have my daughter help me put my socks on."

Schoolmeesters said she was hospitalized for a week with the virus in April and has been surprised by how difficult the long-term recovery has been.

"They just came to my house yesterday and just took the oxygen out of my house after seven months," Schoolmeesters said. "And I still have migraines, vertigo and fatigue."

Schoolmeesters signed up for the NovaCare recovery program in September and has been doing physical and occupational therapy twice a week ever since, which involves progressive cardio and strength training.

"It really is tailored therapy for the COVID-19 survivor, with the understanding, the appreciation of all the medications they’re on, what inpatient treatments they had received and how do we progress them going forward?" Lackie said.

Lackie said the program also includes cognitive exercises, since many COVID-19 patients report brain fog and memory loss.

Schoolmeesters said her overall recovery has been slow but steady, and the program has given her a renewed sense of hope.

"Now I can do steps twice a day. I can walk with my dog for 28 minutes a day. My new normal is going to be different but this has helped me have a better quality of life," Schoolmeesters said. "Having people that understand like, hey this is real. This is something you have to take seriously. That’s a big part of it too. I’m wearing my superhero mask because of that, they’re our superheroes."

"This is why we do what we do, that idea of hope and wanting to help someone else," Lackie said. "Doctors and nurses are already so overwhelmed with everything else, so this is where we rehab professionals want to step up."

NovaCare said they have clinicians trained in this program at 29 clinics across Minnesota.

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