Rehabilitation
At Home Rehabilitation Exercises
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3- Daily Activities
Many activities of “everyday” life can be used to help a person with fine-motor control, problem solving or attention difficulties. Ask the person to help you with certain chores. Perhaps help him or her to learn or re-learn how to use an appliance or electronic device. Remember to use simple instructions and limit distractions when working with someone at a lower level of recovery, with more complex instructions and increasing distractions in the environment (such as a radio or television playing in the background) for those who are further along in recovery. What follows is a suggested list of activities that could be used for cognitive treatment.
LEVEL 1 -
- Making a bed.
- Dressing
- Bathing
- Repotting a plant
- Washing dishes
- Doing laundry
- Getting a bowl of cereal
- Setting the table or putting away the dishes
- Washing a car
- Making juice from frozen concentrate
LEVEL 2 -
- Preparing a simple meal (for example a sandwich, chips and drink.)
- Work a VCR for playing of a movie or recording a show from the television
- Setting the time and alarm on a clock-radio
- Setting the stations on a radio
- Craft activities
- Using a camera (still or video)
- Programming a microwave oven
- Building replica models (look for “Level 1” on the box)
- Simple car maintenance (checking fluid levels, checking tire pressure)
LEVEL 3 -
- Programming a VCR for multiple shows or repeated scheduled programs
- Programming and using a cell phone, using all the functions such as memory calls and voice mail
- Setting up a computer (if you already have one connected, disconnect cables and ask the student to reconnect it)
- Following a difficult recipe in the kitchen
- Building replica models (look for “Level 2” or “Level 3” on the box)
- Managing a transaction at an automatic teller or in a bank
Taken from Tasks for Home-Based Cognitive Stimulation Program, the Traumatic Brain Injury Model System at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dept. of P M & R, Birmingham, AL. © 1998-2003 University of Alabama at Birmingham