Open AccessDevelopment of an inpatient rehabilitation pathway for motor functional neurological disorders: Initial reflections
Author(s) -
Ginger Polich,
Stacey Zalanowski,
Julie Maney,
David L. Perez,
Gaston Baslet,
Julie Maggio,
Angela O’Neal,
Barbara A. Dworetzky,
Seth Herman
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
neurorehabilitation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.611
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1878-6448
pISSN - 1053-8135
DOI - 10.3233/nre-228006
Subject(s) - rehabilitation , context (archaeology) , multidisciplinary approach , medicine , psychoeducation , physical therapy , physical medicine and rehabilitation , psychiatry , psychological intervention , paleontology , social science , sociology , biology
BACKGROUND: Emerging research supports a primary role for rehabilitation therapy alongside psychoeducation and psychotherapy in the treatment of functional neurological disorder (FND). OBJECTIVE: While consensus recommendations for physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech and language pathologists treating FND have been published, specific recommendations for multidisciplinary FND care delivered on an inpatient rehabilitation unit are yet to be established. METHODS: This report describes one inpatient rehabilitation facility’s efforts to design and implement a clinical pathway for patients with acute-onset motor FND—patients recently hospitalized for work-up of new neurological symptoms subsequently deemed functional. RESULTS: Detailed descriptions on defining admission criteria and delivering consensus- and evidence-based multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation are provided. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of prospective research studies, considerably more work is needed to delineate the optimal duration and intensity of inpatient rehabilitation treatment for the management of patients with motor FND.