From a thorough initial assessment, we identified areas we could work on to help Andy achieve his goals. His main goals were to improve his walking pattern, improve his balance, increase his overall strength, and reduce stiffness within his shoulders.

Andy’s 80-hours of rehabilitation involved hands-on Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and the use of robotics and virtual reality technology to facilitate high repetitions of correct movement patterns to maximise his rehabilitation potential.

For those with Parkinson’s Disease we work to help keep movements smooth and help people out of a ‘freezing’ episode – this could be anything from tapping their leg whilst walking counting using lines on the floor. In Andy’s case, we found that counting and keeping with therapists when walking helped him.

The film shows how Andy came down the stairs on his first day with us at MOTIONrehab followed by how he walked up and down the stairs on his final day.  Andy has improved considerably; he looks more comfortable on the stairs and is now able to come down them without the need to be on an angle.

By the end of Andy’s intensive rehabilitation package, his walking pattern had changed. We needed to decrease Andy’s gait speed as he walked very quickly but took a lot of steps which indicated he wasn’t happy to stand on either leg and was at risk of falls. At the end, his steps were much more controlled without shuffling his feet, he was able to take larger steps and his walking speed reduced significantly which tells us he is happier to stand on either leg to complete walking tasks.

His balance had also improved with his score on the BERG-balance improving by 19 points which is a great achievement.

You have worked so hard Andy, and it has truly paid off – WELL DONE!!!