WAVERLY - Grocery shopping. Opening the door to your house. Getting in or out of a vehicle and filling it with gas. Getting in and out of bed.

Mundane tasks taken for granted by most people become intimidating feats of skill and endurance for people who have suffered a stroke, head injury, joint replacement or other debilitating injury or procedure.

Taylor Physical Therapy Associates is expanding its office at Waverly Health Center to include occupational therapy to help people adjust.

Only this occupational therapy has a twist: Three rooms of the expansion will have simulated environments: a porch and entrance door; a kitchen; a washer-dryer; fully stocked grocery shelves with a cash register and optical scanner; a scaled-down apartment with a sofa and bed; and a work bench with tools.

It even has a Chevy S-10 pickup, shortened to 10 feet long. The pickup was provided by Jerry Roling Motors Inc., had the engine and transmission removed by Bill Kingsley - V14 Truck & Auto, modified by Butzlaff Auto Body Inc., and brought over in pieces by Miller's True Value Hardware.

"A person's been handicapped for some reason, they're actually able to do things here similar to what they will encounter when they get out of the hospital," said Bill Taylor, owner. "People who have been out of commission a little bit can practice rehabilitating themselves a little bit," Taylor said.

Taylor Physical Therapy Associates already offers occupational therapy, albeit without the simulated environments, at its Sumner location.

The simulated environments are part of a concept called "Easy Street," borrowed from the occupational therapy unit at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids. Kimberly Sommermeyer, an occupational therapist who joined Taylor's staff in anticipation of the expansion, discovered the Easy Street concept while searching the Internet and presented it to Taylor. They consulted with St. Luke's staff when setting up their own facility.

The inclusion of the Easy Street concept was in part spurred by Medicare's focus on practical results of therapy. "It's not how many pounds they can lift, but can they lift their laundry basket?" Sommermeyer said.

Taylor said the new occupational therapy space will allow his office to work with patients on daily tasks before they leave the hospital. Before, patients were released and sent home, where occupational therapists would make home visits to practice chores like working in the kitchen or doing laundry or getting groceries.

"We still have the usual, conventional occupational therapy thing," Taylor said. "We don't have to go out into the parking lot to practice getting in and out of cars. And how do you practice using a kitchen facility until they get home if you don't have a kitchen here?"

"I think the biggest part is, the older population has a strong fear of going home by themselves, yet it's their number one goal," Sommermeyer said.

The new occupational therapy space will also help people relearn motor skills to do their jobs or hobbies. The grocery section can help people practice the art of grocery shopping or injured workers to practice stocking shelves or running a checkout. A workbench with tools can help people practice using their tools at home or returning to a job.

"We have a lot of manufacturing, industrial age workers. … They not only need to get the range of motion, they need to get the tolerance back to go to work for an eight- to 10-hour day," Sommermeyer said.

The center will also have a roll-up putting green, Sommermeyer said.

"I had a patient last summer, he had a hip replacement, and he wondered how is he going to golf? And if you've had a hip replacement, you can't bend over," Sommermeyer said. "I'm not going to improve anybody's golf game, but I can show proper bio-mechanics."

Most everything in the simulated environments has been provided by area businesses: Hy-Vee, Keller's Home Furnishings, Ramker Construction, Wal-Mart, Gade's Appliances and S.W.A.K. Fine Paper & Gifts. Workers had just four weeks to complete the space and the simulated environments before its open house, scheduled for today. The space should start treating patients Monday, Taylor said.

The environments are crowded together in a relatively small area. The washer-dryer is included with the kitchen, which is right next to the front porch and doors. The grocery shelves are right next to the work bench.

"It's not exactly how it's set up in a grocery store," Taylor said, "but when your space is closed in, you do what you can."

Taylor expects the Easy Street concept will serve local residents who currently travel for occupational therapy.

"We've had the younger population, with the automobile accidents and the snowmobile accidents, they're going down to Des Moines," Sommermeyer said. "That's an awful hard strain on the family."

Contact Jeff Wilford at (319) 291-1423 or jeff.wilford@wcfcourier.com.