Activity-Based Therapy is Important, How to Pay for It

Spinal cord injury rehabilitation has changed drastically in the last 20 years and this is great news for people with spinal cord injuries. The most exciting addition to spinal cord injury rehabilitation is activity-based therapy, a novel form of therapy that has helped thousands of people regain mobility when they thought there was nothing more they could gain. Read on to learn how this therapy works and how to get it paid for.

What is Activity-Based Therapy?

Specifically, activity-based therapy is considered an "intervention" that targets the activation of the neuromuscular system below the level of injury. In layman's terms, this means working out the paralyzed limbs in an effort to "wake up" the nerves in the paralyzed area of the body. This is achieved by a series of exercises and ranges of motion. To this day, there are naysayers in the medical community regarding this kind of therapy, however many say it has helped them significantly.

One of the first places to offer activity-based therapy is Project Walk, a chain of activity-based therapy centers across the country. The first one opened in Carlsbad, California in 1999. In a typical activity-based therapy gym, you'll find a wide variety of unique exercise equipment such as robotics (such as gait training or using an exoskeleton), electrical stimulation and repetitive movement training. Project Walk is one of hundreds of activity-based therapy centers around the country.

Accessing activity-based therapy is also becoming easier to access thanks to it now being available at many standard spinal cord injury rehabilitation hospitals, especially if they're considered a "SCI model system hospital," which means they want to be up-to-date on the latest SCI therapies. Some of these hospitals include the Kennedy Krieger Institute, the Shepherd Center, the Courage Center, Mayo Clinic and Craig Hospital.

Other facilities in the US where you can find activity-based therapy outside of a hospital are the Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, NextStep (a worldwide franchise offering activity-based therapy), CORE (several locations nationwide), Shadow Mountain Recovery Center, Driven NeuroRecovery Center, “iAM ABLE”, The Perfect Step, Neuromove Fitness, TRYAbility Lab, Neurofit 360, StayinStep, Beyond Therapy, Walk the Line, Neuroworx and many others.

How to Pay for Activity-Based Therapy?

As beneficial as activity-based therapy is for people with spinal cord injuries, many health insurance programs will not cover it in an outpatient setting. However while an inpatient, it is possible to have it covered if it’s offered at a standard therapy by the hospital rehab team. This is unfortunate since activity-based therapy is most beneficial when it’s done months into years after a spinal cord injury. There are amazing reports of quadriplegics regaining arm movement almost 10 years post-injury from this therapy.

To help pay for activity-based therapy as an outpatient, most people turn to fundraisers and donations to pay for the costs. A typical 1-2 hour session can cost anywhere from $150 and more, making it impossible to pay for many, especially if they want to visit the therapy center weekly (which is recommended). A great way to raise money for activity-based therapy is by holding an online fundraiser on a medical fundraiser site like Help Hope Live, Give A Hand, Ketto or CoFund Health. Medical fundraiser sites are a great way to raise money as they can specifically help highlight medical needs and requests.

Non-medical personal fundraiser sites can also be effective, such as GoFundMe. MightyCause, GoGetFunding, FundRazr and Donately. Knowing how to promote your fundraiser is just as important too, which you can learn here (https://www.gofundme.com/c/fundraising-tips/promoting-fundraiser-online).

Also, after a spinal cord injury it may be possible to access additional funds to pay for activity-based therapy with the help of a medical malpractice attorney. Advice on this and more can be found at Spinalcord.com or call a Medical Malpractice Attorney such as Swope, Rodante P.A.