At NAPA Centre, we use the Intensive Model of Therapy (IMOT) when treating children with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders. This treatment model is increasingly used throughout the world as patients, therapists, and doctors recognise its many benefits and outstanding results. NAPA therapists create a customised program for each patient that varies in time, duration, intensity, and tools used.
Children often advance to the next developmental skill or higher during the three-week program. For example, if a child is using a walker, it is not uncommon for them to gain the strength, balance, and ability to walk with crutches.
Many children make more progress towards their goals in three weeks of intensive therapy than they do in a whole 12 months of ongoing traditional therapy. Read about why progress in paediatric therapy is rarely linear.
Utilising a team of highly trained and dedicated therapists, our intensive program’s success is built upon the interdisciplinary collaboration of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and speech therapists. Children of all ages, starting as young as 10 months through young adulthood and beyond, may benefit from our intensive therapy program.
What this means for your child
Many children make more progress towards their goals in three weeks of intensive therapy than in a whole 12 months of ongoing traditional therapy.
Our intensive programs use various modalities, selected for each child. Explore some of the most common:
A suit of bungee-type cords that supports alignment and adds resistance during functional activities.
A Multifunctional Therapy Unit that provides adjustable, bungee-supported practice for standing, balance, and walking.
Hands-on exercises that encourage active, more efficient movement patterns.
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation used during feeding therapy to support swallowing.
FES, TASES, and NISE-Stim to support movement, strength, and coordination.
Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy for children with one-sided arm and hand weakness.
NAPA therapists utilise the IMOT by treating patients multiple hours a day, five days a week, for three full weeks. The three-week intensive program is based on strengthening and conditioning, decreasing unwanted reflexes, and teaching new and improved motor patterns through repetition and correct alignment. Because of the individualised approach to each patient’s plan of care, NAPA therapy programs can include any variation of specialised tools and modalities, which are specifically chosen to enhance the efficacy of the therapeutic activities and target the domains of development that support our patients’ independence.
The time and duration of each intensive vary depending on the patient’s diagnosis, age, stamina, and therapeutic goals, among other factors.
See how an intensive can come together in our spastic diplegic cerebral palsy case study.
IMOT is the model NAPA uses when treating children with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders. Therapists create a customised program for each patient that varies in time, duration, intensity, and tools used, focusing on strengthening and conditioning, decreasing unwanted reflexes, and teaching new motor patterns through repetition and correct alignment.
NAPA therapists treat patients for multiple hours a day, five days a week, for three full weeks. The exact time and duration vary depending on the patient’s diagnosis, age, stamina, and therapeutic goals.
Children of all ages, starting as young as 10 months through young adulthood and beyond, may benefit from our intensive therapy program, including children with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders.
Intensive programs may include combinations of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech therapy, along with modalities such as the NeuroSuit, SpiderCage, Dynamic Movement Intervention, and VitalStim.
Day 1 includes a collaborative discussion with each therapist on your child’s team, with an emphasis on establishing therapeutic goals and family education about the plan of care. During the third week, families receive a Home Exercise Program to continue supporting progress at home.
NAPA’s UK clinic is located in London. Our team will help you find the best fit for your child’s therapy plan.
If you think your child or loved one may benefit from intensive therapy at NAPA, review our registration process to submit your request. Not sure where to start? We’d love to hear about your child’s needs and recommend the programs best suited to them.
or call 020 4515 5441