Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals sees a wide range of patients every year—those with various diagnoses, from different states, and with varying goals for their recovery. However, recognizing similarities in patients and encouraging them to interact with each other can maximize everyone’s outcomes.
For patients Owen Hepp, 19, and Zachary Coleman, 21, their care teams helped connect the two and use their shared interests to create a sense of community and friendship. Even though each received treatment for a different diagnosis, golf proved to be a fun way to practice everything they were individually working on in therapy while challenging their competitive nature.
“It just so happened that we happened to get these two young men who were of similar walks of life, both athletic, both very involved in their communities, so I thought to myself, it would be great if they met,” Kayleigh Stremel, OTD, OTR/L, a Madonna occupational therapist, said. “They have so much in common, they could work together and find support in one another while they’re here.”
Owen came to Madonna after a spinal cord injury he sustained in a motorcycle accident. The teen from Fort Dodge, Iowa broke his back and was unable to feel or move his legs. Zachary came to Madonna from Nebraska Medicine in Omaha for an auto-immune encephalitis that impacted his cognition, coordination and balance. Owen works on a golf course, and Zach played three years of college football with Wayne State University. Each told their care teams about the importance of sports in their life.
“Right off the bat, as an occupational therapist, you find out what is meaningful to the patient and what their life roles are,” Stremel said. “Although these were two different cases, they were both working on similar deficits and had similar interests in terms of getting back to school, to work, and enjoying extracurricular sports.”
As Owen saw progress using the LiteGait gait trainer to strengthen his legs and improve his mobility, Zach improved his cognition and coordination via the Bioness Integrated Therapy System (BITS) touch screen. When both men had met those individual therapy goals, Stremel worked with Stacie Vereb, MA, CTRS, a recreation therapist, to introduce the two and put their skills to the test.
They started with a friendly game of Wii Golf.
“This was an hour-long recreation session with both of them playing golf together, so they can socialize, get to know each other and do an activity they both enjoy in a controlled setting at Madonna,” Vereb said. “We wanted to make sure they had the strength and coordination and balance to swing a golf club safely.”
Finally, both patients and their families went on a community outing to Top Golf. They played several rounds, including an Angry Birds-themed game and one that challenged them to hit the ball as far as they could. Therapy also had family members practicing caregiver training, from how to safely help their loved one keep their balance while swinging to strategies to help with fatigue and cognition.
“It was great to bring their families along because both of these families have been so involved with these young men’s individual therapies that it only made sense because they can do Top Golf as a family outing,” Vereb said. “I think it gave the opportunity for the families to see how these gentlemen are functioning in the community after going through both of their traumas.”
Zachary’s parents, Garfield and Shannon Coleman say the outing helped build their confidence as they prepare to return home. It also showed them just how far their son had come since arriving at Madonna in August.
“You could see how all his therapy was being put to the test in Top Golf because he really had to focus on his balance, which he had been working on in PT and OT, that hand-eye coordination, just focusing so hard to bring all those pieces together for one golf swing was neat to see,” Shannon said.
They were also grateful for a common family experience when the last few months have been anything but ordinary for them.
“It helps relax him knowing he’s not the only one of his age group that’s going through some difficulties,” Garfield said. “I am very appreciative that Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals gave us real, normal experiences for him while he was recovering.”
For Owen, the outing proved he could get back to things he loves.
“I golf three to five times a week, so I love to do it, and it was a great break from just the hard work,” he said. “It was fun to do. I didn’t expect to do what I did and I swung well.”
As they each return home to continue their rehabilitation journey, Vereb says she hopes the two families will continue the bond they created while at Madonna.
“I hope those gentlemen communicate with each other,” Vereb said. “I hope the families communicate with each other, and they get the support that they need as they’re going through their children’s rehabilitation.”