Have you ever had rehab services, or think you could have benefitted from them?

If you or a family member have been treated for an illness, condition or wound, what happened following your diagnosis and treatment – was there a “next”, or in your experience, did you feel you were on your own? From referral processes to inpatient/outpatient rehab services, wait times, to access to information about various rehabilitation therapies, there are several variables in the health care system.

Rehab is a vital component of home and community care to be explored in determining the right care in the right place - and at the right time – in the continuum of care. Speaking out with your story is an important piece of the conversation.

The Toronto Central CCAC recently piloted a new program to allow acute care patients who are waiting for a rehab bed to wait at home. The Waiting at Home for Rehab Program is a temporary program designed to reduce alternate level of care (ALC) stays.

Patients who opted for the program were sent home with enhanced CCAC services based on their needs. This could include: up to 56 hours of personal care a week; daily physiotherapy; two to three visits a week from an occupational therapist; and up to two nursing visits a day.

Dipti Purbhoo, Director, Client Services-Community Programs at Toronto Central CCAC, says intensive case management  was a key component of the program. A care coordinator visited patients 24-48 hours after they arrived home and maintained regular contact to ensure they had the services they needed. Patients and family satisfaction with the program was also very high.

Another critical consideration to planning for rehab services in the care continuum is prevention. Our health care system is very focused on crisis management, and acute care, and keeping expenses to a minimum. There is a huge opportunity to broaden focus and integrate rehab into prevention, and examine research on the social determinants of health, to keep people healthier - in their homes - longer.

Have you ever had rehab services, or think you could have benefitted from them? Why or why not? Tell us how it helped you, or what improvements you think need to be made in the health care system.

Patients, families, health professionals, researchers, we’d like to hear your perspectives. Please post your comments.