Pediatric Family-Centered Rehabilitation Program in Minnesota

Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Outpatient Program

Carter shows off his new, custom-fabricated helmet, prescribed to treat his head shape asymmetry. Helmeting therapy may be pursued through OT at Mayo Clinic.

The Mayo Clinic Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Program serves children and adolescents from birth to secondary school completion in an outpatient setting. Functioning within the Mayo Clinic primary value of "the needs of the patient come first," the goals of the program are to help children and adolescents reach their functional potential, maximize their developmentally appropriate independence and to improve their quality of life.

Scope and Services

The Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Program provides coordinated, holistic, child and family-focused outpatient rehabilitation care. Communication between the child or adolescent, therapy providers, physicians, other care providers and school caregivers is vital in meeting the patient's needs.

A child or adolescent may enter the program because:

1. The family may be seeking a one-time visit for a second opinion about a diagnosis or treatment plan
2. The family may seek to establish an ongoing relationship with program staff, including updated assessments and recommendations to be carried out by local physicians and therapists elsewhere
3. The family may wish to establish regular and ongoing physical or occupational therapy for their child at Mayo

The outpatient program is based in the Mayo Building at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Patients are referred to the Pediatric Rehabilitation Program from a variety of sources including:

• pediatricians
• developmental pediatricians
• neurologists, neurosurgeons
• orthopedic surgeons
• gastroenterologists
• ear, nose and throat surgeons
• rheumatologists
• endocrinologists
• oncologists
• general surgeons
• plastic surgeons
• other specialists and pediatric physicians

The child or adolescent is evaluated by a Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician, a physical therapist and/or an occupational therapist. Consultation with other Mayo Clinic pediatric medical and surgical specialists can be arranged as needed.

Diagnoses or problems frequently seen include:

• gait abnormalities
• cerebral palsy
• spina bifida
• feeding problems
• traumatic brain injury
• spinal cord injury
• bowel and bladder dysfunction
• torticollis
• plagiocephaly
• musculoskeletal and rheumatologic conditions
• general developmental delay
• genetic syndromes
• spasticity
• hypotonia
• muscular dystrophy

Team members regularly monitor progress and update goals in collaboration with the child or adolescent and his or her family.