What should every stroke patient know about the road to recovery?
According to today’s guest, occupational therapist and Neuro Hub founder Dorothee “Doro” Zuleger: much more than hospitals and insurance companies tell them.
“There's no guidance. There's nothing. That's where it's so important that all the clinicians and the different settings start to collaborate more. So we have a better handoff and provide … a roadmap in recovery. What can I expect? How do I look? How can I advocate for myself?
So I feel like that's on us therapists to provide them with all the resources that are out there to at least navigate a little bit better through that territory.”
In this episode, Doro explores what she’d change about how insurance companies handle neuro rehab, the importance of micro goals in therapy and the biggest obstacle occupational therapists face in treating stroke survivors.
“I think that's the biggest challenge in stroke rehab, that there's not a one-size-fits-all. We need to tease out what fits every client and package it together.”
We also discuss the most important thing every first-time stroke patient should understand about recovery.
“[Patients] don't realize what the recovery process is going to be like. They don't understand that they are gonna have mini plateaus, but they can break through those plateaus.”
In This Episode
Doro’s background as an occupational therapist and the inspiration behind starting The Neuro Hub (03:12)
Doro’s ideas for new approaches to stroke recovery, especially for survivors and families with no prior stroke history (04:37)
Occupational therapists’ role in the rehab process and why insurance companies need to change (05:47)
Doro’s approach to setting patient expectations and providing encouragement (12:09)
What every new stroke patient should know (13:14)
Stages of recovery and the role of visualization (16:51)
The relationship between sleep, nutrition, and recovery (19:13)
Long-term goals, short-term goals, and micro goals in therapy (20:35)
The future of neuro rehab technology and digital therapeutics (23:25)
The biggest challenges facing neuro rehab (31:21)
Our Guest
Dorothee “Doro” Zuleger (MOT, OTR/L, CBIS, DRS) is the founder of The Neuro Hub, an advanced neurological therapy and rehabilitation center located in Central Florida.
She is a graduate of Adventist University of Health Sciences and specializes in providing hands-on, evidence-based approaches to neurological rehabilitation.
Resources & Links
Henry Hoffman on LinkedIn
Pete Durand on LinkedIn
Saebo
On YouTube
On Instagram
On LinkedIn
Doro Zuleger on LinkedIn
The Neuro Hub
