Brookside Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center: Expert Use of the ZeroG® Gait and Balance System Delivers Positive Outcomes

September 11, 2017. Abington, PA. The impact of technology in virtually every aspect of healthcare is evident, and Brookside Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, a first-class rehabilitation and skilled nursing center in Abington Pennsylvania, is capitalizing on the power of these advanced, life-changing innovations that allow people to live longer, healthier and more productive lives.

A proud member of Nationwide Healthcare Services, Brookside is celebrated in Montgomery County for its expert post-acute services, their highly trained staff, and the state-of-the-art rehab equipment they utilize to maximize patient outcomes.

“The expanded role of technology in treatment has contributed to a shortened healing time for our patients, increasing their comfort during treatment, and enhancing their overall quality of life,” says Steven P. Levin, MD, Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health and Physiatrist at Brookside.

One of the high-tech pieces of equipment that the expert therapists at Brookside use is ZeroG®, a gait and balance system that provides body-weight support to patients with a wide range of diagnoses, allowing them to practice walking, balance tasks, sit-to-stand maneuvers, and even climb stairs in a safe and controlled environment. This motivating therapy aids patients in building the confidence they need to reclaim their highest possible level of independence.

This, indeed, is the cutting-edge system that has made the intensive rehabilitation of Charles Doheny such a success story at Brookside. Admitted to recover from a traumatic brain injury, thirty-nine year old Charles initially utilized the ZeroG® to recover his standing balance and practice sit-stand transfers.

With Brookside’s Certified Physiatrist at the helm, Matt Lewellis, Occupational Therapist and Doris Dougherty, Physical Therapist, developed a very personalized plan of care, with gradually increasing rehab goals that reflected his progress. Using the ZeroG® to facilitate postural control, balance, and increase his standing tolerance, as well as practice a stepping technique, Charles is now ambulating about 30 ft. with minimal assistance, and currently participating in stair training.

“It’s truly amazing to observe Charles during therapy,” comments Charles’ mother, Mrs. Cassel, addressing Doris Dougherty, the Physical Therapist who has worked with Charles from the beginning. “Remember when it took FOUR people to help him move? To come from there to what it is now, watching him move independently … there are just no words…. ,” says a visibly emotional Mrs. Cassel, with dad, Mr. Cassel, interjecting, “It’s great to see him get on that treadmill and walk – its great.”

“And not just walk – but the quality of his walking is very good at this point in time: he has a good step, a good base of support, his balance is significantly improved, and the quality of his gait is good now,” indicates PT Doherty, proudly stating the great progress attained by Charles.
Evidence-based studies of rehabilitation technologies indicate time and again the advantages for patients who have experienced stroke and other neurological conditions, spine issues, upper- and lower-extremity injuries, and amputation, and Brookside Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center is at the leading edge: harnessing the power of technology, rendering its delivery of health care more efficiently, more effectively – and significantly enhancing the patients overall quality of life.

“We would not have been able to get these results at home – there’s just no way!” says Mrs. Cassel. “Brookside is a great place – with great therapists,” says Charles’ father, visibly gripped with that special pride and joy that a father feels when he sees his son walking – once again.

For more information about Brookside Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Abington, Pennsylvania, please call Meg Judson, Director of Business Development at Nationwide Healthcare Services at 215-479-0079 and visit www.BrooksideHealthcare.com