Neurodegenerative Disorders Rehabilitation

Patient Care – What to Expect

Our comprehensive care includes the most advanced therapies, mental health support and everything in between. Here’s why families across the Southeast come to us for care:

• Collaboration: We view patients as partners in therapy. They don’t passively receive treatment — they’re engaged and empowered to take control of their lives.
• Renowned leaders: Our faculty, staff and therapists are leaders in their fields, offering the latest therapies and conducting research to make care even better. For example, we’re leading several studies on topics like how exercise can benefit the brain. These studies are funded by organizations including the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.
• Support for caregivers: We offer multiple support groups for caregivers. This helps you build a supportive community and connects you with people who understand what you’re going through.

What We Treat

We use innovative treatments to help patients with all types of neurodegenerative diseases, including:

• Alzheimer's disease
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Huntington's disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Multiple system atrophy
• Parkinson’s disease
• Prion disease
• Spinocerebellar ataxia
• Spinal muscular atrophy

Neurodegenerative Disorders Rehabilitation and Treatments

Our patients have access to a wide variety of treatments, tailored to their unique needs. Our treatments and services include:

• Physiatrists are highly trained doctors who specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation and are active researchers who help teach future leaders in the field.
• Behavioral therapy to help patients address behavioral issues like impulsivity or mood changes that may arise because of their condition.
• Physical therapy to help improve mobility and decrease pain.
• Occupational therapy to help patients regain independence after experiencing an illness or injury.
• Neurology to provide specialized care for patients with brain disorders that affect their movement.
• Neuropsychology to provide specialized care for neurological conditions and assess thinking skills, behavior and emotional functioning.
• Psychology to help patients cope with the emotional aspects of neurological conditions.
• Speech therapy to help address communication issues.
• Close collaboration with other specialties including neurosurgeons, gastrointestinal doctors, urologists, Parkinson’s disease nurse specialists, dieticians, pharmacists and other specialists. We work together to tend to all aspects of your health.
• Supportive care including access to on-call chaplains who provide spiritual care during treatment for those who desire it and social workers who help families find financial assistance, connecting them with support groups and more.

Outpatient Programs for people living with Parkinson’s disease and ALS

We’re proud to offer the most effective treatments, including robust outpatient programs for our ALS and patients living with Parkinson’s disease. These include:

• The Carolinas ALS Center: We have the fifth-largest ALS program in the nation. Patients travel from across the Southeast to seek treatment with our team. We perform evaluations of each patient’s condition and use this detailed understanding to create custom therapy plans. We’ll also introduce patients to a group of ALS patients who are in the same stage, providing the chance to build community and connect with others going through the same thing.
• RENEW Carolinas Parkinson’s Initiative: We were early adopters of a world-recognized Parkinson’s management program. RENEW uses elements of the Dutch ParkinsonNet, aiming to understand each patient’s unique needs and support them through exercise and therapy. Our RENEW team completed specialized training – funded by a generous grant from the Park Foundation – to learn this evidence-based approach. RENEW was recognized for care expertise care and research with the Ray of Hope Award by the Parkinson Associations of the Carolinas.

Highly Specialized Care

Many of our therapists have advanced certifications and provide specialized care, such as:

• Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) LOUD: Helping Parkinson’s patients improve speaking issues with exercises to stimulate the muscles of the voice box.
• LSVT BIG: Helping patients with neurological conditions improve their ability to do all types of movements – from buttoning their shirt to getting off the sofa.
• National Certification Board for Alzheimer and Aging Care (NCBAC): Providing specialized dementia care.
• Parkinson’s Wellness Recovery (PWR): Certification in a specialized exercise program that helps slow-disease progression, reduce symptoms and improve mobility and quality of life.

All physical therapists who work with Parkinson’s disease patients have an LSVT certification, a PWR certification or both.