Behavioral and Mental Health

Did you know that in 2019, the United States had about 223,135 traumatic brain injury (TBI) hospitalizations? That comes out to about 611 cases every day - and that's excluding those treated in an emergency department or who did not receive help! So, in honor of May being Stroke Awareness Month, keep reading to learn more about the symptoms of traumatic brain injuries and explore how occupational therapy can significantly help patients recover as well as regain a better quality of life. 

It's safe to say, everyone knows that a constructive feedback loop is essential for ongoing personal and professional growth, which is especially true for both patients and providers. In fact, by implementing feedback-informed treatment (FIT), an empirically-supported, structured approach to gathering as well as analyzing patient feedback, therapy and rehab providers can help improve the delivery of services such as applied behavior analysis (ABA), physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy.

Technology plays an integral role not only in everyday life, but in therapy and rehabilitation methods as well! In part one of our "Tech In Therapy" #rtblogseries, we explored technological advancements in both occupational therapy and physical therapy, but today's part two will delve deeper into how digital applications in addition to communication devices have changed the way applied behavior analysts and speech-language pathologists interact with their patients.

In June of 2021, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a new physician payment rule that focuses on improving healthcare equity and increasing patient accessibility. With this rule being finalized in November of last year, its changes are now in effect and will influence not only how your practice operates but also how your patients receive care.

People of all ages with a wide range of health conditions need care from an expert therapist, but finding the right provider can sometimes be confusing. Although therapies may share some naming conventions or have similar end goals, there are four primary therapy specialties that are most frequently employed to help people living with disabilities, injuries and illnesses: physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech/language and applied behavioral analysis.

In addition to an already challenging year, 2021 has been especially hard for the Raintree family due to the sudden loss of our founder and leader, Richard Welty, who committed suicide on July 21st. Despite the nature of his passing not being common knowledge, we have decided to share this publicly, in an effort to gain much needed awareness for behavioral and mental health initiatives as well as bring attention to the issues of gun violence. 

September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) and while we encourage you to watch our educational podcast from 2020, now more than ever we want to highlight the importance of not only being informed but also being proactive in silencing the negative stigmas surrounding anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and any other mental illnesses.