Plein Soleil Outpatient Paraplegia Service

The Plein Soleil Outpatient Paraplegia Service is the fruit of a joint project between the Institution de Lavigny and the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation, aimed at improving neuromuscular rehabilitation in Switzerland. Thanks to this service, patients with spinal cord injuries can benefit from comprehensive outpatient care and monitoring at facilities near their homes.

The Plein Soleil Outpatient Centre is a key part of the Vaud Neurorehabilitation Network, whose goal is to assist with the rehabilitation of patients affected by various forms of brain injuries.

Recognised by insurance companies, the healthcare centre offers a wide and varied range of services which can be combined to meet the specific needs of each patient.

Mission

Our service professionals focus their attention on the individual needs of patients, offering treatment plans that cover all aspects of spinal cord injuries. In addition to the recovery of lost functions, special care is taken to help patients become re-integrated into their social and working lives.

Emphasis is placed on the evaluation, treatment and outpatient therapy of patients with spinal cord injuries, or who suffer from complex neurological disorders:

rehabilitative medical exams and evaluations
organisation and coordination of tests by specialists
therapeutic evaluations
creation of an interdisciplinary therapeutic project in close collaboration with patients and their loved ones
auxiliary aids - recommendations, evaluation and adaptation
caregiver training
assistance facing social issues (in partnership with the ASP, FSP and other institutions)

Services

Designed to help patients maintain or re-establish an optimal standard of living, our paraplegia consultations take a multidisciplinary approach (evaluation, diagnosis, follow-up, recommendations) while addressing:

rehabilitative medicine
occupational therapy
physiotherapy
neuropsychology
speech therapy
neurology
urology
pneumology
orthopaedics

Patients with decubitus

The Paraplegia Outpatient Consultation Team also offers treatments created especially for patients with decubitus sores, drawing from all the latest methods, and following the guidelines of a special collaboration with the Cosmetic Surgery Services at the University Hospitals of Basel and Lausanne and the Outpatient Care Service at the Swiss Paraplegic Centre.

The consultation also includes:

an evaluation of professional aptitude, and recommendations formulated in collaboration with employers, insurance companies and the Institute for Vocational Guidance at the Swiss Paraplegic Centre Nottwil
special outpatient physiotherapy for patients with spinal cord injuries or neuromuscular diseases
respiratory education and therapy
outpatient occupational therapy, adaptation of auxiliary aids and wheelchairs (including instructions)
speech therapy
neuropsychology
housing and workplace assessments, home-based counselling throughout all of Switzerland
tips on ergonomics-related issues
adaptation of wheelchairs, seat cushions and other auxiliary aids
nutritional counselling
If necessary, the consultation also provides for the monitoring and coordination of x-rays and lab tests.

It is vital that all professionals involved in the treatment process communicate and work as a team, in order that patients may receive solutions that are best adapted to their own particular needs. Such teamwork ensures everyone is on the same page, and able to provide quick, efficient and straightforward care.

The Plein Soleil Paraplegia Outpatient Consultation Team works closely with:

attending physicians (for exams, treatments, recommendations and reports)
home-based care/ParaHelp
families
nurses and caregivers
hospitals
therapists
It also collaborates with:
the Swiss Paraplegic Centre Nottwil
other paraplegia institutions in French-speaking Switzerland
ParaHelp
the Swiss Paraplegics Association (SPA)
and many other associations

Partners

ParaHelp (customised, home-based care throughout all of Switzerland; community care training and instruction on the main points surrounding the treatment of people with spinal cord injuries; support and assistance for families; evaluation of patients’ situations in their homes)

Swiss Paraplegics Association (service and tips for the management of everyday life situations; service and recommendations for wheelchair sport; SPA offer available throughout all of Switzerland)