People With Medicare

What Rehabilitation Therapy Is

This skilled care can be very helpful. It can help prevent or delay your symptoms. This is especially true for people with early or moderate Alzheimer’s symptoms.

What will rehabilitation therapies do for someone with Alzheimer’s?

They can help in these ways:

• Physical therapy: These treatments help strengthen a body part. They help you move again, or do daily tasks. For example, physical therapists can teach you how to get in and out of a wheelchair or bathtub safely. They also can help you walk better, get you moving after a fall, or help you keep your ability to function.

• Speech-language therapy: People with Alzheimer’s often have problems with speaking and swallowing. This type of therapy can help you with both. Speech therapy can help you to restore or maintain your speech or hearing. It can also help you listen, read, and remember things.

• Occupational therapy: This helps you learn how to do common daily activities that become harder to do as your Alzheimer’s progresses. You can learn new ways to eat, put on clothes, brush your teeth, and do other daily activities.

Note: You cannot qualify for home health care if the only skilled service you need is occupational therapy. But, you can keep getting this kind of treatment and home health aide care even when you stop needing other skilled care.

NEXT: How Does Medicare Cover Rehabilitation Therapy?