2nd week in Voimala

Introduction

The second week in Voimala was quit busy but interesting also. I was in five groups this time. The three groups were like the 1st week. Two more new groups, were added in my schedule, the Hyvä sydän group, which means "good heart" and was a group of people with heart diseases, and the Perheentalo which was a family house, that offers support to families with children.

First, I went again to the customer's home with another student from physiotherapy and nursery department. The physiotherapy treatment was similar to the previous week.

Main part

1. Physiotherapy treatment at customer's home

1st visit:

The begging of our customer's physiotherapy treatment was with plantar/dorsi flexion with resistance, with purpose to increase the circulation of blood and the blood return to the heart. Our customer did the exercises better than last week, as her gastrocnemius and frontal tibial were stronger.

Secondly, we continued with flexion/extension with resistance of her knee, 2 sets of 10 repeats and 2 isometric contractions on quadriceps with 15 seconds at the end of the exercises, on each of the legs. This time her quadriceps and hamstrings were stronger than the previous week, especially her quadriceps.

Thirdly, our customer did flexion/extension of her hip again with resistance, 2 times of 12 repeats.

We continued with squads on the chair, as the last time. 2 sets of 7 repeats. Our customer felt tired with this exercise, both on the body and her breathing. Then, she tried to keep her balance in upright position. Although, i did to her weight transfers from right to left and forward/back. She really enjoyed this transfers, because she felt like dancing!
Our treatment finished with breathing and stretching exercises, with purpose to increase the flexibility and the relaxation of muscles and the whole body.

NOTE!!! This time, our client was more concentrate than the previous times, and did the exercises better!


2nd visit:

The 2nd visit this time was more extreme! We went for a walk with our client out of her house. She walked with her walker, because she is not able to walk without any support. After several steps, she felt tired and sat on her wheelchair to relax. When she relaxed, she got up, and walked back to home. It was really nice that she agreed to go outside, because the previous days she denied to go anywhere. I also enjoyed that the sun was shinning on her, and she got a lot of energy from that.

When we arrived at client's home, she relaxed for a while, and did stretching with the teraband for the gastrocnemious, hamstrings & back muscles and without teraband for the major thoracic and abdominals. In the end, she did breathing exercises, for increasing the air of the lungs and the relaxation of the the brain and the body.

2. Physiotherapy treatment in the group of hip fractures (Letkeät lonkat)

1st visit:

This weekend i participated again in the group of hip fractures.

This time, we did different things than the previous time. In our group were again students from the nursery department. The treatment started with some general meanings of sleep. For example, the students emphasized on the quality of the sleeping time that depends on:

• The clothes we wear during the sleep (as minimum clothes is possible, and it is also important in some cases to wear socks to keep the feet warm, for better sleep)
• The food that we eat before the sleep (light food is suggested and not energetic drinks like coffee, energetic drinks etc.)
• The environment we sleep (must be colder than our body)

After the student's briefing about the quality of sleep, we played a game that is associated with sleep.
The game was the sleep-bag with music. In the sleep-bag, were things that related to the sleep, like a bed, a glass of milk, a clock, pictures of physical exercises, a medicine, a glass of alcohol, an apple etc.. So, when the music started, everyone passed this sleep-bag to the others. When the music stopped, the one who was holding the bag, clutched one of the things, and said what it reminded and how it effects on their sleep.

After the ending of the game of sleep-bag, we went to a room, to do balance exercises with the clients. We separated on 3 groups. Each of groups had their own client. So, i had the same client as the precious weekend.
We began with diaphragmatic breathing with inhalation from the nose and exhalation from the mouth. Afterwards, we began the balance exercises. The clients should keep their balance in the upright position (Anatomy support base with legs at shoulder height, Small anatomy support base, Small gait position, Position with one leg in front of the other) with closed and open eyes. Our client did successfully all the exercises, but sometimes was holding me to prevent herself from falling. Then, she did Berg balance exercises holding the ballet bar, and tried to flex her upper body and core up to the point she could. When she finished with that exercises, she did squats on the chair and then breathing exercises . Finally, the 3 clients sat on a chair one next to the other and tried to approach the target which was a ball, with their balls. The ball that was closer to the target, won the game. The purpose was to be concentrated on the target.


2nd visit:

At the second visit, the main purpose of treatment, was the relaxation. The clients were asked and informed from nursery students about the physiological effects of relaxation and the different techniques for relaxation. Some of them answered that they relax with music, my walking in the forest, going to the nature generally, sleeping, thinking something positive and relaxing, having a shower etc.. After that, they did diaphragmatic breathing, to relax their brain and body.

Then, we went at the gym, and the clients did some physical exercises. I had the same client as the previous times. So, the exercises she did were the following:

1. Warm up with static bicycle:

• Level: 5-6
• Time: 5 minutes
• Feelings: She felt tired on breathing, strong heart beat and little pain on her knees 

2. Exercises on upper body-row:

• Level: 5 kg
• Sets & Repeats: 3x15
• Feelings: Good feelings. In the last set, she felt tired with her breathing

3. Exercises on abdominals:

• Level: 10 kg & 12 kg
• Sets & Repeats: 2x15 & 1x15 
• Feelings: Good!

4. Exercises on back muscles:

• Level: 10 kg
• Sets & Repeats: 3x10
• Feelings: Good!

5. Exercises on hamstrings-leg curl:

• Level: 15 kg & 18 kg
• Sets & Repeats: 2x10 & 1x10
• Feelings: Good! The hamstrings were warm.

6. Adduction:

• Level: 10 kg
• Sets & Repeats: 3x10
• Feelings: Pain in adduction muscle on left leg (because of the hip surgery in the past).

7. Abduction:

• Level: 5 kg & 8 kg
• Sets & Repeats: 1x10 & 1x10
• Feelings: The pain was worse in the left adduction muscle.

3. Treatment on the group of heart diseases (hyvä sydän)

I was not actively participated in this group, because it was based on theoretical knowledge of the good and healthy nutrition, in Finnish language, so it was very difficult for me to understand everything. 

Well, this day a nutritionist came to inform a group of 10 elderly people, about the healthy food, what to eat and what not to eat, the liquids of different kind of food, the salt, the sugar, the different types of oil (the worse and the best), the butter, the dairy products, the main meals that should be included in the daily diet (more fish and less meat). 

At the end of briefing, the clients were given a questionnaire about the quality and quantity of food they eat daily, and according to the total score, they should follow concreteness nutrition.

4. Treatment on group of Perheentalo (taking care of children)

This was a totally different group from the others. The placement was in the city center of Joensuu. Specifically, it was a place for families, where the parents left their children, while the were working or occupying with other things.

  The smallest age in Perheentalo was at least 6 months, and the older one was up to 5 years old. 

Our purpose was to notice the motor learning of the children and if there was something strange in their development. Especially, it was important to notice any hypotenuse, hypertonus, if the sides of the children were symmetric, the way of walking and how should they walk. There was only one child, that used only the one of the two sides to crawl (the right side), and did not move the left leg.

By the way, me and other two physical-therapy students, took care of 4 children and were playing with them. They did not had any development problems and were very healthy and vibrant.

  In my opinion, this visit to the Perheentalo was not useful for us, because we were just staring at the children and playing with them, and didn't participate as physiotherapists. We did not do anything physical-therapy, so I think that this was unnecessary! 

  Although, i enjoyed my time in Perheentalo, because i loved to stay with children, observe their movements and reactions, and playing with them!

5. Physiotherapy treatment on the group of memory diseases (Muistin virrassa)

This weekend, we did a totally different kind of treatment to the clients of the Muistin Virrasa group. It was very enjoyable and relaxing by the way.

Well, the clients (3 elderly women and 3 elderly men), came into Voimala, and presented themselves holding 2 small music instruments and playing the music the wanted, and also narrated their history in music. Me and two other students from nursery and physiotherapy department, did the same.

When the presentation, finished, we went to a musical room (first with the women and then with the men), where were different musical instruments. There was a musician, who learned them how to play a traditional Finnish musical instrument called Kantele, then she played traditional Finnish music with the harmonica and in the and, she played the guitar, and we sang all together Finnish traditional songs.

Kantele

Kantele

Harmonica

guitar

NOTE!!! The men, didn't try enough to play the Kantele, and one of them, gave up because maybe he didn't like it. From the other side, the women really enjoyed the Kantele, and tried a lot of times to learn how to play. Although, everyone liked the musical atmosphere, especially the harmonica and singing the traditional Finnish songs. It was really enjoyable for everyone of us. It was nice experience for me to be aware of the traditional Finnish culture!

6. Physiotherapy treatment on Gym group (Saliparit)

This weekend, we went again to the gym of Voimala with 8 elderly people (4 women with 4 men). I had a customer with Alzheimer, and it was quite difficult to communicate with her, because sometimes she did not want to do or continue the exercises, or she was getting angree. Although, she was very good with the exercises and did them with many kg. 
The exercises that she did, were the following:

Type of exercises: Warm up with Hand cycling machine.
Level: 6
Sets & Repeats: 3 minutes
Feelings: Good!

Type of exercises: Leg extension.
Level: 10kg
Sets & Repeats: 3x10
Feelings: Good!

Type of exercises: Leg curl.
Level: 15kg
Sets & Repeats: 3x15
Feelings: Good!

Type of exercises: Lat Pull.
Level: 11kg
Sets & Repeats: 2x10
Feelings: Good!

Type of exercises: Leg press.
Level: 6kg & 15kg
Sets & Repeats: 1x10 & 1x10
Feelings: Good!

Type of exercises: Abdominals.
Level: 13kg & 15kg
Sets & Repeats: 2x10 & 1x10
Feelings: Good!

Type of exercises: Back muscles.
Level: 15kg
Sets & Repeats: 1x10
Feelings: Good!

NOTE!!! The client was very strong for her age. Unfortunatelly we did not had enough time to finish the last exercise, because we had to do the stretching for all the muscles that the customer used in exercises.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this weekend went well and interesting as the last week. I enjoyed it!