title: Group rehabilitation of vascular surgery patients.
abstract: This paper describes a continuing weekly therapy group for vascular surgery amputees. Group goals include (1) assisting amputees with feeling of helplessness, isolation, and depression; (2) facilitating staff awareness of psychosocial factors in each patients' rehabilitation; (3) integrating ward management with physiatric treatment; (4) mobilizing patient's coping skills; and (5) motivating patients to participate in rehabilitation of other amputees. Group meetings emphasize ventilative, mutual-support approaches, rarely including conventional psychotherapeutic techniques. Members exchange technical information concerning prostheses, operations and amputee life, as well as coping techniques in a general hospital social system. Patient choices as to what to discuss are described.
mesh_terms: D000674:Amputees; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D012046:Rehabilitation; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000601:surgery