cereneo Home is responsible for online therapy and doctors’ consultation as well as at home treatment of neurological patients. The Managing Director of cereneo Home Frenske van den Dries has joined cereneo 3 years ago and made a great impact on further developing the international and online services of cereneo.
Can you provide a brief overview of the team’s main objectives and responsibilities?
The main objectives and responsibilities of the cereneo Home team are to deliver online therapy and at home treatment, a safe transition from a clinic to a patient’s home, and to provide regular access to a neurologist through online consultations for patients from anywhere in the world. Our services are available for patients from our clinic as well as patients who have never been to a cereneo clinic before.
We offer online neurorehabilitation therapy, covering speech & language therapy, cognitive training, and movement therapy. Our neurologists are available for neurological consultations or a second opinion.
For a therapy plan to be effective – online, inpatient or outpatient – the approach should be multidisciplinary (involving neurologists and therapists) and data driven, to be able to offer patients a therapy package tailored to their specific needs.
Our goal is to give patients as much independence in their daily lives as possible and make neurorehabilitation therapy accessible all over the world.
How is the team structured?
We have a fixed team consisting of a neurologist, speech & language therapists, cognitive therapists, as well as movement therapists. All therapists deliver outstanding therapies worldwide and speak multiple languages. Our team is supported by a research scientist, who brings in new and innovative technologies for online therapy.
Online therapy and therapy at home is getting more and more attractive and the team is growing rapidly with an increasing need of therapists in all therapy disciplines.
How does your team fit into the larger organization?
We are part of the multidisciplinary team at cereneo and are involved in an early stage when patients are in the clinic to ensure a seamless support when patients are back home again.
Patients are often afraid of going home from a rehabilitation clinic, as it brings a lot of uncertainty. With our services, we support patients in this transition back home taking their anxiety away, helping them integrate back into their normal life. Continuous therapy and monitoring of their development is crucial to avoid relapses and deterioration.
The cereneo Home therapists are regularly in our clinics in Switzerland to work with patients to build up trust and to exchange knowhow and expertise with their colleagues in the clinic.
What challenges does the team face, and how do you overcome them?
Every patient is different in terms of needs, motivating factors and personal wishes. Our therapists need to be creative and flexible to find out the motivation-driving factors and adjust the therapy accordingly. It is important to make patients feel comfortable back home and while doing online therapy.
Next to creativity and flexibility, open-mindedness is a very important skill for a cereneo Home therapist. They have to continuously come up with new and personalised devices and digital applications to tailor the therapy to the needs of the patient.
What are the team’s goals for the next year or the near future?
Short-term, we will grow the team to be able to support more patients with our services anywhere in the world.
In addition, we aim at pioneering online rehabilitation services to become the best-in-class online neurorehabilitation provider.
