Rehabilitation Services

Health and Fitness Specialist Stephanie DeMars of Warroad assists in screening the physical abilities needed for Sarah Erikson (left) to perform her duties as a new employee at LifeCare Medical Center. Post Job Offer Essential Function Testing is one of many services offered at Rehabilitation Services.

Industrial Rehab
Anyone whose job involves repeat movements is at risk of developing a repetitive motion injury. And it’s not necessarily limited to jobs that require heavy lifting.
A poorly fitted work station potentially can provide the same risk for injury as assembly line work, and it’s the job of LifeCare’s occupational therapists to help prevent as well as treat injuries stemming from these environments.
 

Jeremy Anderson

“The cost involved with making an adaptation to the workplace is often a lot less than fixing the person after an injury,” says Jeremy Anderson, a Registered and Licensed Occupational Therapist at LifeCare Rehabilitation Services. “Taking preventative steps is a great benefit to both the company and the employee.”
Examples of such preventative steps are rotating the employee to a different task every few hours, providing a step stool, raising or lowering the employee’s work surface, or other ergonomic related recommendations.
A 1994 graduate of Roseau High School, Anderson served four years in the military before earning his Master’s degree in OT from the University of North Dakota.
As a LifeCare occupational therapist, he works with businesses throughout Roseau County, including Polaris Industries and Marvin Windows and Doors.
A typical day at LifeCare for Anderson involves treating patient sprains and strains that occurred at their place of work.
Most of his 15 minute sessions are conducted at the nearest LifeCare Rehabilitation Services office though in certain situations, like with Marvin Windows, he brings LifeCare to them.
Because Marvin Windows has its own rehab equipment onsite, LifeCare is able to provide rehabilitation service there three days a week. For Marvin, this has resulted in fewer days lost to medical leave over the past year.
“If we can keep the employee on site for their treatment, it reduces the number of lost days,” Anderson says. “For example, an employee can return to work after a rotator cuff replacement and continue their treatment on site, rather than stay home or leave the work site several times a week for therapy.”

Post Job Offer Testing
Another of the essential but often unnoticed services provided by LifeCare Rehabilitation Services is what is known as Post Job Offer Essential Function Testing.
“What this basically means is checking to make sure the person hired for a job is physically able to perform expected tasks,” says Stephanie
 

DeMars, who assists with post job offer testing at LifeCare Medical Center.
DeMars says certain job descriptions contain specific information about lifting and bending. When someone is offered a job with those specifications, it’s important to know they can complete these duties without injury or strain.
these duties without injury or strain.
“If a person is expected to regularly lift 50 pounds as part of the job, we need to be sure this can be done without injury,” says DeMars, whose department on average tests between 75 and 100 potential new LifeCare employees annually, as well as those for other local businesses.
In 2007, Anderson alone conducted 498 Post Offer Tests for Marvin Windows.
“It’s all about fitting the worker to the right job,” he says. “If a person doesn’t pass, an employer may try to reassign the individual to another task based on test results. The hope is that the risk of injury to employees can be reduced before they even start.”

Treating Lymphedema

Erin Eeg

Another condition treated through LifeCare Rehabilitation Services is lymphedema, often described
as a swelling of the arms and legs.
Sometimes undetected or even unrecognized, this condition has received more attention from the medical community in recent years.
Caused by excess fluids that collect in the body, lymphedema can show itself in one limb more than the others, according to Erin Eeg, a Certified Lymphedema Therapist at LifeCare Rehabilitation Services.
“It’s really been in the last 10 years that therapists have been more involved with the treatment of this condition,” says Eeg, who recently conducted an educational in-service for local physicians.
A registered and licensed occupational therapist, Eeg received her Master’s degree from UND in 2003 and is now LifeCare’s resident expert on treatment and management of this condition.
While the cause of lymphedema can be congenital or hereditary, it typically is due to insufficiencies of the lymphatic system following trauma or surgery.
“Lymphedema is often detected in breast cancer patients whose lymph nodes were removed,” she says. “At that point, it’s very common for their arm to swell.”
 

A monitor tracking muscle contractions is used to show which muscle groups need attention.

Amanda Kvien

role in this, but these are not the only factors,” according to LifeCare physical therapist Amanda Kvien, who treats patients of all ages.
“I may see an elderly patient affected by incontinence due to muscle and ligament deterioration, and later the same day treat a young female athlete with the same problem, due to the high demands intense physical activity puts on the pelvic floor muscles.”
Surgery and medication are not the only treatment technique for this issue. Special services are available that can take the place of or be used in conjunction with surgery and medication.
“We provide internal and external electrical stimulations, computerized biofeedback, and different types of strengthening techniques to help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles,” Kvien says. “The computerized biofeedback helps visualize how the muscles are contracting and assists in monitoring the progress.”
Kvien, a doctor of physical therapy, is currently working towards certification as a Physical Therapy Specialist in Women’s Health.
“Specialized treatment in this specific area is new to this department,”
she says. “Being able to provide that distinction for the patients of LifeCare Rehabilitation Services is something I look forward to sharing.”

LifeCare Rehabilitation Services includes nearly 20 team member, all dedicated to providing a wide range of specialized assessments and treatments.

For more information or to make an appointment call (218) 463-4787 in Roseau, (218)
782-4003 in Greenbush, or (218) 386-3155 in Warroad.
 

Erin Eeg, a Certified Lymphedema Therapist, applies a leg wrap used to help reduce swelling of the limbs. She is also a registered and licensed occupational therapists at LifeCare Rehabilitation Services.

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