Tenerife Association of Multiple Sclerosis - ATEM

Comprehensive Care Program

Speech Therapy

Speech therapy is the health discipline in charge of preventing, evaluating, diagnosing and treating problems of communication, hearing, both oral and written language, voice, speech, orofacial problems (difficulty of the set of organs that allow chewing, swallowing , speak, breathe, etc.) applying myofunctional therapy (a set of procedures and techniques used to correct orofacial muscle imbalance, create new muscle patterns in swallowing, articulation and reduce harmful habits) and disorders of the swallowing.

Speech therapists work with people of any age with or without disabilities since the pathologies that are included in the speech therapist's function can be functional, organic, adaptive or learning.

The function of the speech therapist is not only to teach to speak well, but to provide people who need it with a communication system that allows them to express themselves, either through oral, written, gestural language, by pictograms ...

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy is a Health discipline that offers a non-pharmacological therapeutic alternative that, in many cases, helps to alleviate the symptoms of multiple ailments, both acute and chronic.

Frequently, physiotherapy or physiotherapists are related to massage, but their arsenal of therapeutic techniques is much broader.

Physiotherapy and, specifically, the physiotherapist, as a health agent, work for prevention (to reduce the stress that accumulates in the body on a day-to-day basis and causes pain to increase, the role of Physiotherapists is important to achieve the highest quality of life for people), recovery (physiotherapy aims to alleviate or repair the effects of an injury, whether at the bone, muscle, joint, central and peripheral nervous system injuries), healing and palliation of musculoskeletal and postural problems.

Starting from the current concept of Health, physiotherapists act from three levels: primary (prevention, education and habilitation), secondary (process healing) and tertiary (functional recovery treatment in pathologies and processes already established and chronic).

Occupational Therapy (TO)

Occupational Therapy (OT) is, according to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), “the set of techniques, methods and actions that, through activities applied for therapeutic purposes, prevents and maintains health, favors restoration of function, supplies the disabling deficits and values ​​the behavioral assumptions and their profound significance to achieve the greatest possible independence and reintegration of the individual in all its aspects: labor, mental, physical and social ”.

Sometimes the literal translation of the term Occupational Therapy gives rise to confuse the purpose of this discipline with the intention of having the person busy or entertaining. So it is important to note that the end of the TO is achieve maximum functionality of the person with some type of limitation, whether physical, cognitive, behavioral or a variety of them, through meaningful activity and / or therapeutic workshops with both general and specific objectives.

The professionals who develop this profession, are endowed with socio-sanitary knowledge included in the field of rehabilitation, which allow the intervention in three areas: self-maintenance, productivity and leisure of the person and also provide the professional with the ability to:

• Make an assessment of the capabilities and limitations of the person. (With the different bacteria of the service).

• Prevent disabilities (imbalances, occupational dysfunctions, anticipate possible injuries and pathologies).

• Perform assessment of sensory, superior, social and psychological abilities.

• Develop and evaluate rehabilitation treatment programs with their corresponding individualized objectives.

• Obtain the involvement of the patient in their own treatment.

• Train and re-educate in the basic and instrumental activities of daily life.

• Train the use of technical aids as long as it is not necessary, compensating their limitations.

• Prepare and carry out the prescription of orthotics, prostheses and technical aids, as well as the training of the person in its use.

• Adapt the environment and develop programs to eliminate architectural barriers. Advise families, users and professionals of other specialties.

• Evaluate the means of transport and their possible adaptations.

• Train the individual to achieve the highest possible degree of socio-labor reintegration as an active member within their community.

• Help the individual to readjust their daily habits.

• Reintegration of the individual in his daily life and in his environment in the best possible conditions.

• Collaborate with public and / or private institutions for the promotion and development of intervention programs in people with disabilities.

Psychology

Psychology is a developing science. The word comes from the Greek, where "psycho-" means "mind" and "-logy" means "study or science."

Therefore, psychology is the science that studies people's mental processes, in the three main dimensions: cognitive, affective and behavioral.

Throughout many years, Psychology has been formed and has gained relevance after using methods such as observation, data analysis through statistics and the formulation of psychological theories. Its intention is to establish hypotheses about the origin of human behavior, in order to rehabilitate or seek change and / or improvement of people. That is, it seeks to explain why we do what we do in order to improve our quality of life.

Throughout history, many approaches have been created from which to practice psychology, but in this manual we will focus on the Cognitive-Behavioral approach.

Neuropsychology

Neuropsychology is the science that studies the presence of changes in cognitive, emotional and behavioral processes; and its possible relationship with a brain structure, or the existence of an abnormal lesion or functioning of the brain.

A neuropsychologist then deals with the diagnosis (Neuropsychological Evaluation) and the treatment (Neuropsychological Rehabilitation and / or Cognitive Stimulation) of those cognitive, behavioral and emotional problems that may be the result of different processes that affect normal brain function.

In the Neuropsychological Evaluation, the professional administers several standardized tests or tests that will allow him to obtain an objective and concrete score on the abilities of cognitive functions. In addition, several measures can be carried out over time that allow us to know the evolution of the user.

In Neuropsychological Rehabilitation and / or Cognitive Stimulation exercises, activities and / or games are performed to slow down or rehabilitate cognitive impairment of cognitive functions.

What are cognitive functions? They are the mental processes that allow us to be and do, such as attention, concentration, processing speed, verbal memory, visual memory, reasoning, language, praxies, orientation, etc.

The key to good Cognitive Stimulation lies in not only stopping to work on the affected functions, but also taking time to enhance those functions that we keep with good functionality. That is why there does not necessarily have to be a brain injury or damage to receive Cognitive Stimulation. You can also work from prevention by keeping our brain active. For this we propose a series of activities that you can do from home, especially at a preventive level. But whenever we suspect that there may be possible brain damage, we recommend consulting a professional.

Social Work

"Social Work is a professional who focuses his work on the empowerment of people, personal social and community development, so that they are the protagonists of their own changes and overcome their difficulties leaving them strengthened."

Social work is a profession of the social branch that seeks to favor the development of healthy human bonds and encourage changes that lead to greater people's well-being. Through the intervention methodology it contributes to knowledge and social transformation, influencing the participation and empowerment of people, families, groups and communities.

The social worker is a social action professional who deals with promote the well-being of the human being and the prevention and attention of social difficulties and / or deficiencies of the people, families, groups and the social environment in which they live.

It is the person in charge of giving information, guidance and psychosocial help to people and family groups in situations of crisis, violence, disorganization, family, work or home losses. Too help people with difficulties for social integration (marginalized, immigrants, people with psychic or physical decline ...).

The social worker collects the demands of these people, makes a study of the situation and establish an intervention plan to improve the situation of users.

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