Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation facilities take an extremely personalized approach to focus on those skills necessary to regain functioning ability.

There are a variety of situations in which rehabilitation may become necessary after a hospital stay. If your therapy needs are extensive and cannot be met effectively in a home-health care setting, your physician may suggest a rehabilitation facility.

Rehabilitation centers offer an entire team of specialists, including physicians, rehabilitation nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers, dieticians, chaplains, recreational therapists, and psychologists. This allows the facility to take an extremely personalized approach to focus on those skills necessary to regain functioning ability, both on an in-patient and out-patient basis.

What criteria must I meet to be admitted?

Each Acute Rehab facility will have its own criteria that must be met prior to admission. In general though, your medical condition must be stable as determined by your physician. There must be reasonable expectation for you to improve with acute rehab services. You must be willing and able to participate in 3 to 5 hours of therapy a day. A physician and/or admission coordinator from the rehab hospital must evaluate and approve the admission. If a patient is not a rehab candidate, but the family/caregiver is determined to take the patient home, a two-week "Family Teaching" stay can usually be arranged. This stay will focus solely on teaching the caregiver how to care for the patient at home, and arrange all needed services and equipment.

How do I choose an acute rehabilitation hospital?

• Determine if your insurance policy covers this type of care.
• Bed availability may limit your choices.
• Take a tour of the facility.
• Ask to see a typical schedule (the professional standard is minimum 3-5 total hours of therapy daily).
• Determine if emphasis is placed on integrating your family into the rehabilitation process.
• Identify the variety of professionals available to you and your family and ask if the facility offers a team approach to your care.

What certification should I look for?

An Acute Rehab Program should maintain accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). Programs may also have additional Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) Specialty Accreditations in the area of brain injury, spinal cord injury and outpatient rehabilitation.