Management of neurorehabilitation during the covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Neurorehabilitation originates from the concept of neuroplasticity and it has an important role-both physical and cognitive-in the restoration of a damaged nervous system. Interruption in neurorehabilitation negatively affects a patient’s prognosis. Unfortunately, after the World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic, there were some disruptions in neurorehabilitation practices. Therefore, according to the principles of infection prevention and protection, the issue of developing new neurorehabilitation management strategies was raised. Providing appropriate physical distancing in shared rehabilitation areas and strict training of the rehabilitation team with regard to hygiene rules are important issues in terms of preventing contamination. In new treatment schemes, options such as discharging patients from hospital at the earliest possible time, home-based treatments and telerehabilitation have become standard. Online patient-physician consultation can provide the continuity of neurorehabilitation and reduce anxiety and the feeling of social isolation felt by many patients and their families. In addition, the pandemic period can be turned into an opportunity for caregivers to learn physical and cognitive exercises and apply them to their patients. The current article focuses on the new neurorehabilitation approaches in the neurological diseases sample which includes stroke, multiple sclerosis, dementia, Parkinson’s disease and neuromuscular diseases within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.