Bobath's method
Bobath's method is a concept of care and therapy covering both, the patient's resources and the problems/deficits with their sensory abilities and motor skills. The concept is focussed on patients suffering from diseases of the central nervous system, trying to make patients learn more about:
- CNV-related pareses/plegias of a body section
- Postural deformities, imbalances and motor disorders
- Muscle tone problems (spasticity, flaccidity)
- Proprioceptive problems (perception of one's own body)
Bobath's method aims at initiating a learning process with reference to the brain's life-long ability to learn. The following objectives ensue:
- Avoid or reduce spasticity and restore a balanced muscle tone
- Initialise normal movements on either side of the body
- Normalise the perception of one's own body and environment
- Self-confidence in the activities and existential experiences of daily living (AEDL)
- Bobath's method instructions to family members
Daily care focusses on
- Lying down (awareness of hemiplegic side of body)
- Mobilisation (patient training and instructions on sequential movements by means of a special handling)
- Self-help training (special training of the patients' processes of learning by integrating recurring daily activities in Bobath's method, including body care, getting dressed/undressed, eating)
Bobath's method is a 24-hour concept requiring multi-disciplinary collaboration. Successful implementation is mainly conceived of as a care and nursing task.