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Announcer:
Welcome to NeuroFrontiers on ReachMD. On this episode, we’re joined by Ms. Patty Bobryk, a physical therapist at Yampa Valley Medical Center, a part of University of Colorado Health in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Ms. Bobryk is here to share highlights from the rehabilitation track at the 2021 Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers. Here’s Ms. Bobryk now.

Patty:
The CMSC meeting in Orlando this year was a huge success.  It was really a triumph because in this coronavirus times, to be able to pull this meeting off and keep everyone safe was the first big plus, so to be together and to be able to share our knowledge, masked and face-to-face, was really an exciting time for us. 

If I'm giving us the 30,000-foot view of the rehab track and what went on in the meeting, I'd really like to highlight that the collaboration of the team was really evident and in most all of the lectures. Most of the lectures had panels that included disciplines from all aspects. We had PT, OT, speech, psychologists, lawyers, so it really highlights the importance of working in a collaborative aspect and having all members of the team be present because we all contribute and all have an impact on the symptoms of MS and disease itself. 

The other thing that I would really like to bring out is that year after year in the rehab track, I'm really finding that rehab is becoming more significant in what we're being able to do from a nonpharmaceutical symptom management strategy. When I first started in MS care, it really felt like, yes, we were involved and yes, we knew that we had an impact, but rehab has become kind of one of the core pieces. We talk about it being exercise is prescription and that everyone who is diagnosed with MS should get an early referral to your rehab team because we know how important it is, and we're diving deeper and deeper each year and getting more and more information on how we have an impact.  For instance, we had a lecture by Rebecca Cunningham on sleep interventions being provided by rehab professionals, and we know how important sleep is. We know how it impacts fatigue. We know how it impacts cognition. But to be able to have a referral to rehab to add that additional support, interventions, education to help people who are living with MS and having sleep difficulties really just adds to the total picture. 

So many of our patients too are looking for ways that they can augment their quality of life by not taking another medication. And I'm not saying medication isn't important. Of course it is. But to augment what they're doing already, to enhance and get the best benefit out of their symptom management is really, really important. 

The other thing that I'd like to highlight is that we are entering different areas in the rehab profession that maybe we haven't typically thought about before. We had a great lecture on pelvic floor interventions for MS, so bowel, bladder, and sexual dysfunction, and you don't usually think about rehab having a part in those symptom management strategies. And we also had a really fun lecture on dance in MS and how we can use dance not only for the exercise and socialization but the emotional aspect of it. One of the things that kind of really struck me was that one of the participants that said that something was added back into their life instead of something being taken away, and that's something that individuals with MS struggle with every day. They feel that things are slowly being taken away, and to have a modality, dance, add something back in their life was really impactful. 

Announcer:
That was Ms. Patty Bobryk sharing rehabilitation highlights from the 2021 CMSC conference. To access this and other episodes in our series, visit ReachMD.com/NeuroFrontiers, where you can Be Part of the Knowledge. Thanks for listening.