Is QLI Omaha’s biggest secret?
Rehab culture on 37 acres
Quality Life Inc. specializes in treating neurological injuries like stroke, traumatic spinal, & traumatic brain. They strive to restore residents function by using the science of intensive therapy delivered by a large team of specially cross-trained clinicians in a 37 acre gated campus setting in North Omaha.
(Clicking on the images will enlarge them to full size.)
Personnel serving the 60 patients include physical, occupational, & speech pathology therapists, similar to most rehab facilities – but here there is also an Adaptive Sports Shop, an Adaptive Computing Lab, a Library / Music room, and several life path therapist rooms as well.
Here’s an image-heavy post about our experience with QLI to help you understand the scale and planned expertise of this remarkable facility. Maybe it can help you with your own TBI journey a bit . . .
One group of QLI specialists are very creative at getting the residents to stretch their limits and try new adventures in their lives. Kayaking, skiing, archery, jet skiing, water tubing, and hunting are all possible here through the Adaptive Sports programs led by Ed. Proof that therapy can be anywhere . . .
It is also the art of rebuilding a life. They “anchor the rehabilitation to identity” – who a person is and who that individual can still be – innovating ways to harness that identity to not only guide recovery, but to define their life path beyond rehab.
These are the folks we were referred to by Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for the next step in our TBI adventure. As I write this, I can safely say: It was a great move for us. It’s an easy recommendation for other TBI, SCI, or TBI/SCI patients who need 24/7 inpatient care & are able to earnestly participate in 6 therapies per day during their rehabilitation time here. It can be intense . . . but during the first 6 months after injury, it may be one of the best rehabilitation facilities in the U.S.
Tri-Dimensional Rehabilitation®
Their literature says it well: “QLI’s Tri-Dimensional Rehabilitation® program is focused on one clear goal: to help clients rebuild their lives after a catastrophic injury. Founded on best practices, QLI has developed a revolutionary model that addresses not only the core medical and physical aspects of rehabilitation, but is also designed to address the real-world skills and individualized interests that bring purpose and passion to the lives of their residents.”
“The rehabilitation programs start with a foundation of world-class medical care. Physician-driven and staffed by an interdisciplinary team of medical experts, QLI’s services closely monitor and manage the nuances of each client’s health status, from medication and nutrition to dynamic and unique health needs.”
“Rehabilitation should rebuild function, and that function should have real-world application. At QLI, therapy services weave together industry-leading expertise, an array of adaptive and augmentative rehabilitation technologies, and high-repetition training in real-world environments. This combination actively promotes neuroplasticity and, ultimately, meaningful functional restoration.”
Learn more about some of the therapy tech in use here with these links:
“Recovery is about more than ability. It is emotional wellness – a balance of acceptance and the capacity to feel hopeful about the future. QLI’s Life Path Services team assembles a program custom-tailored to support and adapt each individual’s passions into therapeutic programming, providing counseling every step of the way.”
Family Housing
It’s best said in the published materials: “The best possible recovery requires more than the commitment of the client-it requires the combined effort and dedicated support of the entire family unit. Families travel from across the country for QLI’s rehabilitation services, making it their priority to keep loved ones close, connected and comfortable.”
They accomplish this with their own Family Housing facility across from the Rehabilitation Campus. As availability allows, families can stay in double queen bed rooms on the 2nd level or in 1st floor suites with a queen bed and a mini-kitchen for a modest donation. Each type is extremely well furnished, secured with key cards, maintained by the talented Dawn, & headed by Kinyari. It’s another thoughtful element that makes QLI a special environment.
Our Son’s experience
Ever since we met the “Bob & Josh traveling circus” in Seattle, we’ve had a great experience with QLI. The entire staff has been outgoing, supporting, adaptable, & creative with our therapy & housing arrangements for the last 2 1/2 months. Their facilities are remarkable: the buildings, gated grounds, gym & therapy equipment, & even the transportation has been first rate.
Here’s a bit of ‘stream of consciousness’ writing about our QLI journey I’ve added in between meetings & therapies. These are some of our favorite highlights, but there are many others:
Bob & Josh flew into Seattle the night before we were discharged from Harborview, met us, & planned the next day’s trip through SeaTac Airport, TSA, & loading onto the plane for Omaha. They were Aces – it went as smoothly as I’ve ever seen & the whole trip was over by 4 pm Omaha time & we celebrated with ice cream.
From what I’ve heard here, this is ‘normal’ – and even more, staff who are familiar with him will do a similar 3 day trip upon discharge to orient & train the new home staff to him & his needs for a smooth transition to his new home back in Seattle. This also includes the setup of the durable medical equipment like a new bed, electric sling lift, bathing chair, & even delivering and personalizing a new PowerChair. WOW!
Our son’s therapists pay complete attention to him during each session, and take the time to measure each bit of his progress using their ‘team of teams’ approach each week. As you can see in this post’s images, there’s quite a variety of social & mechanical tools for him to increase his range of motion, build strength, & expand his motor flexibility.
Maggie, Andrew, Anna, Connor, & Curtis are our leaders of Physical Therapy here in the 2 QLI gyms, bringing a wealth of experience and patience to their work. Abe and Tyler pitch in with scheduled hours to build his strength up in the weight room too. All of these folks have an integrated approach to increasing our son’s range of motion and flexibility that contributes to his overall recovery. He is incredibly fortunate to have benefited from their expertise during our time here. They use the term “RELENTLESS” a lot, and I hear it in the gyms weekly.
For daily task re-training in Occupational Therapy, Ellie M. & McKenna are our dynamic duo here who bring a wealth of experience and passion to their work. Their innovative approach to expanding our son’s action range to manage his personal tasks has made a significant difference in his self-image each day. We are hopeful that their training will help Rory continue into a practical level of independence as he continues his journey.
And there’s the psych of TBI to consider too: he started with an evaluations by the staff neuropsychologist, and has been meeting with a clinical psychologist & several life-path therapists weekly. There’s even a “House Dog” (Mavis), a veg garden, a BBQ, and a stocked fishing lake for those small feel-good moments.
Zoey B, Megan, & Morgan are our speech therapists who bring an intense passion to their work. Their innovative approach to reducing his short term memory loss with an elaborate 3-ring binder and phone apps has made a significant difference in his day to day interactions here on the campus.
His wayfinding on campus & interpersonal facial recognition with staff & residents has improved since we started working with the binder at first, and now with the apps. Adding writing paper to the binder is now helping with his hand writing too. They’ve taught us that Speech Therapy is a misnomer and that it is much more than just vocalizing words. Core muscle strength, voice strength, swallow skill, & breathing capacity are all on their menu.
From a loaner PowerChair, customized by Todd, to board game time with Christina, to a hand-held breathing tool with Megan, to an electric keyboard set up by Ellie – all extras were proactively offered to help us progress without any prodding from Dad.
Dad’s mornings usually start off in the Hub Cafe with hot tea. (Fridays are particularly busy.) In the afternoons, we were both included in the lemonade social in the Hub Cafe. Often there are guided 3 hour fishing events for residents & families down at the lake with provided rods, reels, & bait. And each week night there are even after-dinner game nights where residents & families socialize, share successes, & learn a new game (like RummiKub) in their house or the Hub.
Special mention has to go out to Ricci, Kevin, TG, Chad, Seth, & Isiah (Life Path), Ed (Adaptive Sports), and Olivia (Adaptive Technology.) They are our team of lifestyle therapists who bring years of experience and passion to their unusual therapy areas like community outings, kayaking, keyboarding, art classes, virtual gaming, and music therapies. Their exciting contributions during outings & other weekly events have made a difference in his attitude during the grinding physical recovery. We are always amazed how they inject non-traditional experiences here to fill us with ‘good vibes’.
He has even been on hosted excursions to the Omaha Zoo & Aquarium (nation’s #1), the local Botanical Garden, swallow studies at Methodist Hospital, and even 2 consulting eye doctors. During the 4th of July weekend, there were programs with music & movies for residents & their families that we enjoyed. The Paris Paralympics was a packed 2 weeks seeing special athletes on TV also. Kevin’s daughter is a U.S. record-holding athlete, so we focused on her races on September 1st & 7th. (Everybody loves a “local girl makes good” story around here . . .)
So, in summary, this experience has been seamless: from EMS > Emergency Surgery > Harborview’s 2W Acute Care > Harborview’s 4W Rehab Unit > QLI Rehab Campus with 1 more week before we go home. That’s 28 weeks from March 2nd to September 14th as I update this.
The trajectory of his progress has been very steep – and the QLI team has brought him out of his shell, expanded flexibility, and added to his social skills – all at the same time in a safe & caring setting. His outcome is much better for their help . .
When Rory’s not in therapy sessions, Abbie, Christina, Haji, Marketta, & Precious have made daily living in House 1 stress-free and consistent. They manage their CNA teams and keep all the daily moving parts running smoothly, which keeps Dad comfortable too. Their caring approach to managing the CNA staff has helped set him up with a good start to his daily therapy schedule over the 14 weeks here. We are incredibly fortunate to have their gentle expertise as part of his personal care team.
Stephanie, Darci, Jas, & Kori have been our secret sauce here also, bringing a wealth of experience and passion to their work in the background. Their team approach to managing the business of our son’s rehab has helped make a difference because he can focus daily on the rehab, not on the ‘business side’ of recovery like finance, health insurance, COBRA, or SSDI. They all are incredibly proactive about negotiating the appointments, benefits, and interactions with outside providers and we’d be lost without their expertise on our side. Just having them help us manage insurance & Social Security has been a great relief. They’ll be a big help during the next month as we figure out the transition back home.
The healthcare team, including Emily, Joanna ‘The Magician’, Angie, Bri, Allison, Laura and several traveling nurses have been great in managing the inevitable pharmacology and followup instructions from the rehab doctors. This is a complex population and they do a remarkable job of delivering the prescriptions and medical instructions on an individual basis. They’ve even run interference for us, clarifying & fixing some errant responses from insurance providers or clinics. Emily’s weekly visits have kept us on track and allowed us to ask questions, adjust medications, and try new approaches that have helped along the way.
Have there been setbacks? Sure. Days where he wasn’t interested in the hard physical work, overheated summer days that required few activities, & even a seizure episode that sent him to the hospital for 3 days of rest & observation. But the trajectory continues as he is helped by this team of teams to overcome each setback – because these guys don’t give up helping their individual residents. It’s the culture.
The mantra “RELENTLESS” is used here a lot, and I’ve witnessed it making a difference.
