Quennie Ngileb, an occupational therapist at Life Care Center of The Willows, recently became a Certified Stroke Rehabilitation Specialist (CSRS™) through the American Stroke Association.
According to Ngileb, rehab specialties are similar to physician specialties – many therapists provide a wide range of therapy interventions and knowledge, just as many physicians practice general medicine. However, specialties go a step further.
“When a doctor’s general medicine is not enough to help the patient, he or she will refer to a specialist,” Ngileb said. “The same is true with therapy. A specialist in a certain area has extra tools in evaluating and offering more advanced treatment strategies. He or she can also help family members and caregivers have a better understanding of the diagnosis and help them deal with this change in life better.”
As the therapy team began to focus on developing a stroke rehab specialty, more stroke patients began coming to the facility, and Ngileb read up on stroke studies and research to better serve their needs. With the support of the facility team, she decided to pursue the CSRS™ program.
After 26 hours of stroke seminars and an online final exam, Ngileb earned her certification in November.
Ngileb has been putting her training to use since then. Some of the improvements she has seen in her patients as a result are lessened pain, improved positioning, better skin integrity, improved safety awareness and increased independence.
For more information about rehab at Life Care Center of The Willows, please call (219) 464-4858.