MDS Alert

Pauline Franko, PT, MSCP, recalls a case from many years ago where a SNF patient would feel sick and vomit whenever she attended rehab therapy. But the person wasn't getting sick at any other time.

"The therapist wanted to D/C therapy but we had a psych evaluation and found out that the patient was getting sick because she was afraid of going home," reports Franko, principal of Encompass Consulting and Education in Tamarac, Fla.

And "essentially, she thought that if she couldn't do therapy, they wouldn't send her home," Franko relays. "The patient went on medication and received counseling. And she was able to resume therapy after a time."