Life Care Center of Federal Way helps Hayes regain independence

William Hayes couldn't do much when he arrived at Life Care Center of Federal Way, Washington, on April 3, 2017.

Hayes has heart failure, diabetes and encephalopathy, a disease affecting the brain. He also had a prior stroke. When he came to the facility, he needed total assistance with almost all his mobility and activities of daily living, from standing up to brushing his hair to getting dressed and showering. He even needed extensive assistance to feed himself and balance while sitting. His cognition was also impaired.

Physical therapists met with Hayes six days a week to help him with strength, balance, endurance and range of motion. Occupational therapists worked with him six days a week as well to retrain him on his activities of daily living. Together, they taught him how to use adaptive equipment to live more independently and how to conserve energy.

Hayes exercised using a recumbent cross trainer to build strength and activity tolerance, as well as ankle weights for lower-body resistance training and a rowing machine to help him with upper-body strength. The Biodex Balance System^™ SD helped him practice his standing balance, and therapists trained him on going up and down stairs.

Speech therapists worked with Hayes on cognition and eventually got him to where he could think pretty clearly.

"Therapy helped me a lot by strengthening my legs, arms and mind," said Hayes. "All the therapists are great."

On July 13, Hayes returned home independent. He only needed supervision to walk.