MEDEK Therapy is a Dynamic Kinetic Stimulation Method. A physiotherapeutic method used with infants and children used to develop large motor skills. It is used for patients with neurological disorders. It was developed by Chilean physiotherapist Ramon Cuevas between 1971 and 1976 in collaboration with physiotherapist Ester Fink. The therapist, Ester Fink, used the MEDEK method for therapy with a girl with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. The therapeutic effect was visible and the method has achieved great renown and is used, for example, in North America. It is used in the clinic run by Ester and in the Zarein Education Centre - a private school for children with special needs.
Gravity is considered the main stimulus for the neuromuscular system to work. The main assumption of the method is that the effect of gravity makes movement and manipulation of objects, requiring postural control or the ability to push upwards, i.e. in the direction opposite to the direction of gravity, while stabilising the body in space. MEDEK does not focus on primary reflexes, movement patterns or changes in muscle tone. The therapist assesses the movements and if they are abnormal then assesses the maturity of the central nervous system and the degree of development of the motor functions. The main focus of MEDEK therapy is to work on sitting, standing and walking. These are the basic functions that a child with cerebral palsy needs to achieve in order to be independent to some extent. There are no isolated exercises, but individual muscle groups are trained by performing postural and functional tasks. Muscles with excessive tension are stretched in a dynamic manner. MEDEK does not refer to a sequence of normal motor development. Instead, it assumes that different skills require different movement strategies. In contrast to other therapies, the child does not have to cooperate with the therapist and concentrate on the exercises.
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Each parent or carer is given an individual exercise programme to take home, which has to be done twice a day. The close cooperation and involvement of the two parties, is able to produce truly spectacular results in a short time.
The role of the therapist is to provoke the automatic postural responses that are involved in the postural control necessary when performing functional tasks. The MEDEK therapist determines what goal is to be achieved and how to elicit the desired response. In therapy, each exercise has its own name and is described in detail. The exercises are designed to provoke specific reactions. The therapy takes place on a special table and in later stages, when the child starts to take his first steps, therapy takes place on the floor. The therapy also includes a system for evaluating the progress of the therapy. A special assessment protocol has been created for this purpose, which consists of 46 points, including postural and functional tasks, and addresses the child's motor development from newborn to 16 months of age.
The therapy is aimed at children up to about 5-6 years of age (related to the patient’s weight and height)
