698 cases benefit from Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination’s service across Abu Dhabi: Report – Climate – COP28
Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination (ZHO) stressed the importance of physical therapy for children of determination of different ages, especially if there is a referral from an orthopedist, as well as after performing surgeries for many cases, including ordinary people. It also noted the highly important role of the family in achieving the goals of completing the physiotherapy system along with receiving sessions at ZHO’s care and rehabilitation centers.
ZHO expressed its pride in providing services with modern international methods for treating and rehabilitating people of determination, and in having a distinct work team to provide physiotherapy services, using the latest scientific techniques in this field and at the hands of international physiotherapists, out of its belief in the necessity of bearing full responsibility towards people of determination by reaching their motor abilities to the highest level and helping them live independently.
In its report on the occasion of World Physiotherapy (PT) Day, ZHO revealed that 698 cases benefit from the physiotherapy services at its entire care and rehabilitation centers across Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra, and that 231 daily therapy sessions are carried out, and the rate of achieving goals has reached 86%.
Physiotherapy is one of the services provided by ZHO, a rehabilitative medical service concerned with improving the motor capabilities of people of determination, such as (strengthening muscles, gait exercises, balance exercises, improving sitting, and maintaining joints and body muscles in good health). Falling under physiotherapy, hydrotherapy is also provided. It is provided in the aquatic environment to enjoy water properties, buoyancy and resistance, helpful for physiotherapy. Buoyancy helps support the weight of a person with a disability who is unable to stand and walk.
The types of physiotherapy used at ZHO vary; manual therapy, hydrotherapy, spider therapy, smart rehabilitation, and electrotherapy.
Physiotherapy is very importance for people of determination as it works to improve their motor and physical capabilities, develop their skills, and improve their gait, balance, and muscle strength to facilitate their integration into society and reach them to the highest possible degree of independence, while maintaining their current condition and banning deterioration of their motor condition, said Dr. Fatima Al Dhaheri, Director of ZHO’s Health Care Department, noting that providing assistive devices that facilitate the movement and independence of people of determination is part of physiotherapy.
“We wish health and well-being for our students and members of determination, hoping they benefit from this service that is provided via ZHO’s health care departments across Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra, she added, noting in this context that ZHO’s Physiotherapists enjoy distinguished long experience on all forms of disabilities and for multiple age groups. This includes dealing with students’ mental health, which is not taught in any curriculum in the field of therapeutic rehabilitation, but rather comes with experience and special practice,” she said.
“ZHO has future plans to develop its physiotherapy services by making its physiotherapy centers excellent, distinguished and accredited for training in the region, and providing training and supervision for trainee students from inside and outside the state, in addition to providing access to the therapy services in partnership with the private sector, such as oxygen therapy and the use of gyms in some rehabilitation centers,” Dr. Fatima added.
For her part, Amina Al Saadi, Head of the Health Care Department in Abu Dhabi, explained that electrotherapy is one of the types of physiotherapy, used for certain cases of determination based on the use of electricity as a therapeutic tool. It primarily uses electrical current to stimulate nerves and muscles through the skin in order to relieve pain. Electrotherapy stimulates muscles and nerves to improve body functions and relax tissues, thus relieving pain.
Spider therapy is one of the types of physiotherapy that is provided in conjunction with manual therapy and counts on the use of a special suit and ligaments that fix the student inside the spider cage to provide support and balance required to perform various exercises and in different positions, she said.
Smart Rehabilitation Laboratory
The Smart Rehabilitation Laboratory has eleven leading therapeutic devices among the latest international technologies in therapy and can be controlled by computers and robotic support devices. It is divided into six robotic devices and two smart systems. Robots help evaluate patients and provide them with therapy with the help of advanced therapeutic electronic programs and moving robotic limbs similar to the movement of the patient’s limbs (hands and legs) with all their joints and movements. These robotic limbs are fixed to the patient’s limbs and help stimulate their movement, strengthen it, and guide it in the correct manner.
Al Ain Lokomat
ZHO announced the addition of the Lokomat gait training device in the city of Al Ain, by launching the new device at its Al Ain Center for Care and Rehabilitation headquarters in Falaj Hazza, Al Ain, in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA), as the second device at ZHO to be added to the one at the Smart Rehabilitation Laboratory.
Hydrotherapy
The hydrotherapy service is one of the popular rehabilitation services for children of determination, as water is deemed one of the most enjoyable environments. When water surrounds the body, it provides it with protection, assistance and resistance. Hydrotherapy is beneficial for many neurological conditions and syndromes associated with muscle weakness, hypertonia, joint and soft tissue stiffness, fluid accumulation, sensory problems and many others.
Therapeutic Pool
ZHO’s therapeutic pool is one of the most advanced therapeutic facilities in the United Arab Emirates. It provides hydrotherapy services to ZHO’s members of determination of all ages and disabilities. It has a floor divided into two halves so that each half can be controlled separately, and it consists of moving floors that can be controlled automatically to reduce or increase the depth of the pool to suit the users, in addition to two cranes to take down people of determination who use wheelchairs, an underwater electric treadmill, an underwater stationary bike for gait training.
It is worth mentioning that the World PT Day is celebrated every year as it is one of the important days that focuses on public health and pays attention to those with limited mobility and functional patients with the aim of restoring their physical and psychological balance. The World PT Day has goals to be highlighted, enhances efforts to develop the physiotherapy career and provides assistance and support to patients. The World PT Day calls for spreading awareness and general culture of the importance of physiotherapy, by publishing papers, information, and posters targeting the largest possible segment of society.
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