What is a typical day like on the unit?
Following rounds and throughout the day, special treatment services are provided by a team of highly skilled clinicians. Diagnostic tests or interventional procedures such as nerve blocks, spinal taps, etc., may also be provided.
After lunch, which occurs at approximately 11:30 a.m., acute medical services and therapeutic sessions continue. Therapeutic sessions may include telemedicine visits with a MHNI psychologist who focuses on helping patients utilize nonmedicinal approaches to pain and attend to any social or family stress issues. Patients are encouraged to practice techniques they may have learned during these sessions, including biofeedback or recreational therapy. In addition, family members are encouraged to be active participants in all aspects of the patient's care.
Dinner is served around 5:30 p.m. "Interaction with the other patients was very helpful. Having lunch and dinner with some of the other patients was great because we got to talk about our problems and talk about the program," stated W.G. From Grand Rapids, Michigan. This point was seconded by A.S., a patient from Arkansas. "It was great to be able to interact with others who shared the same problems as me, and to be able to swap stories with them." According to J.C., "it was very helpful to interact with other people who share some of the same pain characteristics."