Patient-Centered, Interprofessional Approach to Improve Functional Outcomes in a Skilled Nursing Facility

During a hospital stay, older adults often become physically deconditioned and lose their ability to perform activities of daily living. Afterwards, they commonly require rehabilitation in a skilled nursing facility to regain independence. Even at discharge, however, many older adults are still far below their pre-hospitalization level of function making them at risk for adverse events such as falls, rehospitalizations, and loss of independence. Two reasons for inadequate outcomes may include that 1) physical and occupational therapy interventions are delivered at too low an intensity to incur substantial physiological gains, and 2) residents are largely sedentary outside of structured therapy time. These two problems represent critical targets for interventions that optimize care in skilled nursing facilities. Therefore, the investigators designed High-Intensity Rehabilitation + Mobility (HeRo), a patient-centered approach to skilled nursing facility care that incorporates a combination of high-intensity (i.e. high resistance, low repetition) functionally-based resistance training along with a structured mobility program outside of therapy time.

HeRo includes: 1) a team approach to patient-centered care; 2) a physical activity intervention that incorporates principals of behavioral economics, which uses incentives, goal setting, and gamification to optimize patient engagement and health outcomes and 3) a challenging, high-intensity rehabilitation intervention that pushes patients to expand their limits. The investigators expect that HeRo will improve physical function and physical activity while reducing sedentary time for older adults in the skilled nursing facility. The study team will assess the feasibility and acceptability of HeRo for multiple stakeholders including patients, physical and occupational therapists, nursing staff, and administration. This research will improve patient care in the skilled nursing facility environment, getting older adults on a fast track to developing independence after a hospital stay.