Pediatric Family-Centered Rehabilitation Program in Minnesota

Pediatric Family-Centered Rehabilitation Program
at Mayo Clinic

The Pediatric Family-Centered Rehabilitation Program provides a vital link in the continuum of recovery care for children and adolescents who suffer illness or injury resulting in disability. The goal of the program is to help children and adolescents live as independently as possible within their families, schools and communities. Participation in the Pediatric Family-Centered Rehabilitation Program provides children, adolescents and their families the skills needed to minimize complications, especially within the context of growth and development, to optimize recovery, and to maximize quality of life and participation.

Scope and Services

The Pediatric Family-Centered Program provides coordinated, child and family-focused, inpatient rehabilitation care to children or adolescents who suffer a severe injury or illness. The program is based in Saint Marys Hospital at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Patients may enter the program:

1. Following referral to the Pediatric Rehabilitation Service by a pediatric or surgical service at Mayo Eugenio Litta Children's Hospital
2. As a direct admission from a separate institution following evaluation by a Mayo Clinic admissions coordinator
3. Upon outpatient evaluation at Mayo Clinic by a pediatric physiatrist

Prior to admitting a patient, pediatric rehabilitation care providers evaluate the patient's medical status and ability to participate in intensive therapy sessions, and discuss specific rehabilitation goals with the patient and his or her family.

The Pediatric Family-Centered Rehabilitation Team includes, foremost, the patient and their family, as well as a diverse group of caregivers including a pediatric physiatrist, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, recreational therapists, rehabilitation nurses, neuropsychologists, social workers, dieticians, orthotists and prosthetists, respiratory therapists, bowel and bladder therapists, and child life specialists. Comprehensive, interdisciplinary rehabilitation evaluation assesses impairment, activity limitations and prospects for participation.

A goal-directed therapeutic plan of care is established for each child or adolescent based on individual needs, and may include any of the following elements:

• Medical issues, self care skills, mobility, bowel and bladder function, swallowing, speech and language skills, cognitive skills, sensorimotor and perceptual skills are addressed within the context of age, developmental stage, cultural background, and psychosocial status.
• Additional services such as assistive technology, environmental modification, peer visitation, or pet therapy may be provided.
• At any time during the child's or adolescent's rehabilitation stay, consultation with any of Mayo Clinic's pediatric medical and surgical specialists may be arranged as needed.
• Team members regularly monitor progress, update plans of care and communicate with each other as well as with the patient and family.

Planning for successive levels of care along the continuum of recovery from illness or injury begins at the first contact with the program. As part of each child's or adolescent's care:

• The plan is continuously updated through regular interaction between program team members, the patient, the patient's family members, and educational specialists.
• The educational needs of each child or adolescent are emphasized.
• Prior to dismissal from the inpatient setting, program staff provide each patient with recommendations regarding "next steps" along his or her recovery continuum, which may include outpatient therapies, home exercise programs, and/or follow-up consultations with therapists and physicians.

Quality Commitment

The Pediatric Family-Centered Rehabilitation Program shares Mayo Clinic's longstanding primary value that "the needs of the patient come first." The program's mission is to meet the needs of patients and families. The Pediatric Family-Centered Rehabilitation Program Team will provide each child and adolescent the best interdisciplinary rehabilitation care, enhancing his or her functional and cognitive abilities and quality of life through integrated clinical practice, education and research.