Patients' pain disappears in renovated hydrotherapy pool
Patients' pain disappears in renovated hydrotherapy pool
By Deborah Cameron
JAKARTA (JP): The hydrotherapy pool at Fatmawati Hospital in
South Jakarta is a gleaming example of modern medical treatment
methods. Patients who immerse themselves in its specially heated
water say that they get immediate relief from pain and much more
flexibility in injured and paralyzed limbs.
"One of the patients who is recovering from multiple fractures
said that when he gets into the pool he feels the pain disappear
into the water," said the head of the Medical Rehabilitation
Department, Dr. Gerry Heryati.
The hydrotherapy pool, built in 1973 with help from Australian
donors, was recently renovated in a project jointly funded by the
Australian Agency for International Development, the Salvation
Army and Bethesda Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.
They gave close to Rp 30 million to have the pool redesigned
and rebuilt so that is was safer and better for disabled
patients. The hydrotherapy building was renovated and painted and
new tiles were laid on the floor. At the same time the pool water
supply, filtration and chemical systems have been improved.
The pool, housed in a special wing of the hospital's
rehabilitation center, is about five metres long and ranges in
depth from 70 cm to 1.4 meters. It is heated to a temperature of
32 degrees Celsius. Patients spend about 30 minutes in the pool
doing a range of movements and exercises supervised by specially
trained staff.
Two physiotherapists from Bethesda Hospital have spent the
past two weeks based at Fatmawati Hospital training
physiotherapists in up-to-date techniques and also familiarizing
patients with the pool.
The Bethesda and Fatmawati Hospitals have a special
relationship due to their shared interest in rehabilitation.
Bethesda specializes in the area of rehabilitation and its
services are internationally renowned.
One of the two visiting Australian physiotherapists, Jane
Gutherie, is the manager of Physiotherapy Services at Bethesda
Hospital and has specialized in the management, organization and
maintenance of hydrotherapy units for many years.
She described the pool at Fatmawati Hospital as "wonderful".
"It is a great asset for physiotherapists and the patients
love it," she said
The second physiotherapist, Elizabeth Cotter, said that
hydrotherapy accelerated the recovery of stroke patients and
those with serious bone injuries and chronic pain. Paraplegic and
quadriplegic patients also benefit from the treatment.
The pool will be open every day to both individuals and groups
of patients from Fatmawati Hospital, a public hospital which
caters to thousands of outpatients every day and has a 565-bed
general hospital.
There are an estimated 5.7 million disabled and handicapped
people in Indonesia. Many are hurt in traffic accidents while
others suffer from crippling contagious diseases including
poliomyelitis and leprosy.
Cotter said most of the quadriplegic and paraplegic patients
at Fatmawati Hospital are young men who have fallen from tall
buildings in construction site accidents.
Of Indonesia's disabled population, only about 15,000 a year
receive any kind of rehabilitation treatment. Fatmawati Hospital
is one of the few places in Indonesia with a functioning
hydrotherapy pool.
Still, Dr. Gerry says, the future is looking brighter for
disabled people as rehabilitation specialists and
physiotherapists receive more training and better methods become
available to them.
She pointed to the opening of Indonesia's first occupational
therapy school in Solo, Central Java, last September, as an
important sign of future improvement.