As the global fight against COVID-19 continues in the UAE, Amana Healthcare has announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind therapy programme to help patients who have suffered serious health issues and impairments after recovering the disease. The latest programme has been put into effect as part of the UAE's intensive efforts to mitigate the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the public.

Amana Healthcare has launched the programme in line with the Mubadala Healthcare provider’s established expertise that has been working with patients requiring long-term care and offering specialised rehabilitation service for conditions such as strokes and traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries.

After the network's hospitals declared themselves free from COVID-19, they shifted their focus on rehabilitation for discharged patients. At the same time, hospitals working at the outset of the pandemic have been working hard to save the lives of patients suffering from severe complications from the virus.

So far, a four-stage process has been designed by Amana that helps the patients in restoring their physical and cognitive functions that may get affected in the aftermath of the disease, specifically after long periods of care in an ICU.

Speaking over the development, Dr Jason Gray, Senior Director for Clinical Operations at Amana Healthcare, stated that recovery from COVID-19 brings new challenges for patients which can vary from muscle strength to healthy body weight and composition, adding that Amana’s post-COVID-19 rehabilitation programme helps the patients in the process.

"COVID-19 can confine patients to medium- to long-term care in an ICU or acute hospital setting. Recovery brings new challenges, such as regaining breathing functions, physical movement, muscle strength, and healthy body weight and composition. Cognitive functions such as attention, memory and mood may also present psychological challenges. This is when the rehabilitation phase begins, and where Amana’s post-COVID-19 rehabilitation programme comes in," he said.

According to reports, Amana’s post-acute rehabilitation (PAR) service is facilitated by an in-house team of multidisciplinary, MDT, specialists including physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, physiotherapists, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, rehab nurses, dietitians, and social workers.

Shamilah Ahmad is one of the patients undergoing the Amana's post-COVID rehabilitation programme as teletherapy. Speaking about the treatment, Shamilah said the programme has given her strength to continue to fight the repercussions of the disease.

"Recovering from COVID-19 seemed such a long way away once I was discharged from the hospital for the second time. This is where the post-COVID rehabilitation programme from Amana Healthcare stepped in and changed the course of my recovery. For me, to have a team of multidisciplinary therapists who are looking after me, who care about not just my physical, but also cognitive wellbeing, gives me the strength to continue to fight the impact of this virus. I don’t feel alone anymore as I had been made to feel previously. Psychologically this is a huge step in itself," Shamilah said about the programme.

She further stated that the programme has boosted her confidence in her ability to recover.

"Through the help of this rehabilitation programme, I hope to be able to get back to my normal life, and to return to work doing the job I love and the hobbies that I enjoyed. Amana’s rehabilitation programme has made this possible, and I feel and see improvement in myself daily and I hope to continue to make progress until I reach my goal," she added.

Sharing the details about the four stages of the programme, Deborah Pierce, Director of Rehabilitation at Amana Healthcare and a New Zealand-trained physiotherapist, stated that it combines information from various professional disciplines to provide the necessary results.

"The four rehabilitation stages cover ICU step-down rehabilitation and ventilator weaning; specialized inpatient rehabilitation; home or tele/video rehabilitation; and specialised outpatient rehabilitation. An assessment is made as to whether all four stages of the programme are necessary; from here, we can deliver the correct therapy to assist in returning the patient to pre-illness levels of function, activities and life roles," she explained.

Deborah Pierce added that the goal of the programme is to help patients get back to their pre-COVID life after recovering from the disease.

"Some patients need help getting off a ventilator but for many patients, the challenge is to regain strength, mobility and independence after spending weeks immobile or comatose in a hospital bed. This is done by Amana’s MDT team, and the programme begins in Amana’s rehabilitation facilities and continues in the patient’s home," Pierce stated.

As of now, hospitals treating COVID-19 infections in the UAE have been referring inpatients to Amana facilities. In addition, services like outpatient tele/video rehabilitation and home rehabilitation are also being provided by Amana facilities directly to the patients discharged to their homes and to those who have managed self-treatment at their homes. Notedly, telemedicine and homecare are developing increasing importance across the world amid efforts to combat the spread of Coronavirus.

WAM