Neurological Rehabilitation

Neurological rehabilitation is a combination of physical therapy, occupational therapy and, in some cases, speech therapy to address a decline resulting from a neurological condition. The rehabilitation focuses on the patient as a whole — helping them to recover, improve or maintain functional abilities.

A patient would need neurorehabilitation services after noticing a decline in function from any nervous system condition or neurological disorder, including the following:

• Stroke
• Parkinson's disease
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Cerebral palsy
• Spinal cord injury
• Traumatic brain injury
• ALS (Lou Gherig's disease)
• Huntington's disease
• Muscular dystrophy

Neurological rehabilitation services can be delivered while you are in the hospital (inpatient), or outpatient with daily or weekly appointments that you come to from your home or assisted-living facility. 

Inpatient rehabilitation includes an intensive 3 hours of therapy per day in a hospital setting. The new Froedtert Bluemound Rehabilitation Hospital offers inpatient rehabilitation services for any patient who is ready to be discharged from any hospital. You do not need to be a patient in a Froedtert & MCW facility to transfer to the Froedtert Bluemound Rehabilitation Hospital. 

Outpatient neurological rehabilitation is offered at several locations including our new state-of-the-art Outpatient Neurological Rehab Clinic in the Froedtert & MCW Specialty Clinics on the Froedtert Hospital Campus. 

Find a Neurological Rehabilitation Location

Getting Started With Neurological Rehabilitation

If you are in the hospital, the team treating you will determine if you have deficits with any of the following:

• Mobility
• Daily living activities
• Cognition — learning, processing thoughts and understanding experiences and senses
• Communication
• Feeding

If they feel you would benefit from neurological rehabilitation, they can place a referral to have one of our team members evaluate you while you are in the hospital. These therapists will continue to see you while you are admitted to address these deficits and will also make recommendations for continued therapy services or equipment you may need after discharge.

Outpatient Referrals for Neurological Rehabilitation Services

With some nervous system conditions, you may have no difficulty right after your diagnosis — continuing to live at home without assistance. This is common in degenerative diseases, such as MS and Parkinson's disease. As the disease progresses, you may notice that some activities are giving you trouble. While you can continue to live at home, outpatient neuro rehab provides therapy to perform daily activities, strengthen muscles and maintain independence as long as possible.

At this time, your physician needs to place a referral to get an evaluation in our neuro rehab clinic. After your evaluation, the therapists will let you know how often and how long you will have therapy.

You would start by meeting with your physician to discuss a change in your condition. That physician can then place an order for outpatient therapy. The order can be for one or all rehabilitation services — neurological physical therapy, occupational therapy or speech therapy — depending on your concerns.

What to Expect From Neurological Rehabilitation

Our rehabilitation team will work with you and your family throughout your recovery. Your treatments will include exercises and activities that will help improve your function at home, while training your caregivers or family members to assist you. We also provide equipment and service recommendations that will make independence easier.

Our facilities have state-of-the-art equipment to improve your function, and the therapists will also provide you and your family with a home exercise program so you can make progress outside of our clinic.

How Long Does Neurological Rehabilitation Take?

Every patient is different. For a mild impairment, it could be a couple of months to help you gain strength or learn a new way to perform a task. For a traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, it could be several months or longer. In the case of a degenerative disease, it could be ongoing or on and off depending on disease progression.

In all cases, our therapists evaluate your needs and determine how long you need our services based on your deficits and opportunities for recovery/improvement.

Recovery and Outcomes After Neurological Rehabilitation

Again, every patient is different — as is every brain or spine injury injury, nervous system condition and neurological disorder.

Depending on the severity of the diagnosis, we will help you recover as much function as possible. If we are unable to get you back to your baseline, we will work with you to adapt your lifestyle to what you are able to do to help you live a fulfilling and rewarding life.

Neurological Rehabilitation Team

Our expert and dedicated staff treat the most complicated neuro diagnoses in southeastern Wisconsin. The teams at many locations include:

• Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants
• Occupational therapists and occupational therapist assistants
• Speech-language pathologists
• Recreational therapists
• Rehabilitation psychologists
• Social workers