Occupational Therapy Programs

Occupational therapy provides services to a wide range of inpatients who recently have undergone surgery or are in the acute stages of trauma, illness or injury. The focus is to identify and explore a patient’s potential to return to his or her prior level of independence and to assist with discharge planning needs.

Intense inpatient services are provided to patients who have experienced a stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury, neurological disorder, arthritis, amputations and joint replacements. Utilizing a team approach, occupational therapy plays a key role in the process as the patient progresses toward the maximum level of functioning and independence to return home.

Structured groups and individual experiences are provided by occupational therapy to promote self-worth, decision-making, interpersonal relationships, communication skills, stress management, time management and activities of daily living.

Occupational therapy is provided to individuals who are homebound through Avera St. Luke’s Home Health and Hospice. Occupational therapists will assess and provide therapy for activities of daily living within a patient’s home setting.

• Outpatient Rehabilitation Services: These therapy services are focused toward patients who have recently been discharged from an inpatient stay. The goal of Outpatient Rehab is to maximize a patient’s function and level of independence. Diagnosis may include, but it not limited to, brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.
• Upper Extremity/Hand Rehabilitation: Therapy is provided by an occupational therapist who specializes in acute and chronic upper extremity problems involving the hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder. People suffering from traumatic injuries involving tendons, ligaments, nerves, joints and bones are served, as well as those suffering from cumulative trauma disorders. This service also includes fabrication of splints and ergonomic assessments. For more information, call 605-622-5921.

Freedom Fitness is designed for people who are being discharged from a therapy setting and need to continue with their exercise program independently. For more information, call 605-622-5921.

• Industrial Rehab: This area of service is provided by occupational and physical therapists trained through the Isernhagen program. It is designed to maximize a person’s ability to return to work by addressing the client’s functional, physical, behavioral and vocational needs. This is accomplished by using simulated work activities in conjunction with physical conditioning tasks and client education. For more information, call 605-622-5979.
• Functional Capacity Assessments: Occupational and physical therapists evaluate the functional abilities of individuals for the purpose of assisting in return-to-work and activity decisions, disability determinations or rehabilitation planning. This is a 2½-day assessment.  For more information, call 605-622-5979.
• Ergonomic Consultation and Injury Prevention Programs: These programs are designed to help prevent and manage workplace cumulative trauma injuries such as back pain, tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. Services may include individual employee assessment, group training of employees in a classroom setting, supervisor and manager training, train the trainer education for development of ergonomic teams or ergonomic coordinators. For more information, contact Business Health at 605-622-5858.

Drive Smart, a driving rehabilitation program, evaluates a person’s driving skills and provides rehabilitation as needed to enable a person to resume or continue driving safely. Our program includes a comprehensive clinical evaluation of a patient’s potential to drive, including testing of vision, cognition, and physical abilities. Following the clinical evaluation, our driving rehabilitation therapist has the patient complete a behind-the-wheel assessment. Once assessments have been completed, our occupational therapist makes recommendations that may include adaptive equipment for the car, behind-the-wheel rehabilitation training or retirement from driving. For more information, call 605-622-5708.

Lymphedema is swelling caused by interference with the normal drainage of lymph back into the blood. Our occupational and physical therapists are certified in the Vodder method of lymphedema treatment to provide complete decongestive therapy, a combination of hygiene/topical skin care, manual lymph drainage, bandaging/compression and decongestive exercises. For more information, call 605-622-5756.

You'll find that rehabilitation can be comforting at our warm water therapy pool at Avera St. Luke's Therapy Center, 805 First Avenue SE in Aberdeen. Benefits of utilizing warm water aquatic therapy include increased joint and muscle flexibility, increased muscle strength, decreased pain with weight bearing and movement, and increased cardiovascular endurance. For more information, call 605-622-5756 or 605-622-4055.

• Schools and Outpatients: Our occupational therapists address pediatric developmental milestones including fine motor skills, muscle control and strength, and progression of motor movements. They also work with children to develop their sensory systems. Self-care skills such as dressing, grooming, feeding, school work and playing are addressed. Our occupational therapists work with children through many schools in the Aberdeen region.
• Handwriting Without Tears: We offer a Handwriting Without Tears program designed for students who are having difficulty with letter recognition, letter reversals, printing or cursive writing. It is a four- to 16-week program designed to improve functional handwriting. For more information, call 605-622-5717.
• Developmental milestones: Children develop at different levels at different times. However, at each age, there are milestones your child should have reached. If you are concerned about your child's development, please share your concerns with your child's doctor. If your child is developing normally, your doctor will be able to reassure you. If not, further testing may be indicated, or therapy may be recommended. For more information on OT pediatrics, call 605-622-5725. Below are milestones 90 percent of children can do at each age level: