Background: Many hospitals do not have the means to supervise daily physical therapy (PT) for elderly inpatients. PT delivered in a group setting has the potential to allow hospitals to consolidate resources and extend PT services to more elderly patients within the hospital. However, little to no efforts have been made in implementing the delivery [...]

Background: Hospital-associated disability (HAD) is the new loss of ability to complete one or more activities of daily living without assistance after hospital discharge and occurs in 31% of hospitalized patients. HAD and low mobility during hospitalization are associated with higher risk of readmission, permanent disability, new institutionalization, and death. Physical therapy (PT) is invaluable [...]

Background: Black patients have been shown to have worse physical function, higher likelihood of developing mobility limitations and higher rates of mobility loss and functional decline. Despite these functional disadvantages, Black patients are less likely to receive acute and post-acute rehabilitation services. These disparities have been described in community-dwelling, ambulatory, and surgical populations, and social [...]

Background: Hospital-Associated Disability (HAD) is a life-altering condition that can lead to readmissions and is associated with increased risk for death. Physical therapy (PT) is an invaluable tool to help prevent HAD but, studies have shown that even under normal circumstances, there are a multitude of barriers to adequate PT in hospitalized patients. The COVID-19 [...]

Background: Prolonged immobility during hospitalization is associated with development of hospital-associated disability (HAD) and physical deconditioning. Physical therapy (PT) is important for HAD treatment and prevention but is a constrained resource in most hospital settings and planned sessions can be difficult to complete. Missing planned PT sessions, known as “PT non-treatment”, may compromise patient’s functional [...]

Background: Disposition planning is a vital part of clinical care in the hospital setting and requires a collaborative multidisciplinary approach. Physical therapy (PT) assessments are often a key part of this process but due to staffing shortages and high acuity – both of which were exacerbated by the COVID pandemic – therapists at a large [...]

Background: Black patients have distinct disadvantages that are associated with poor functional outcomes. Physical therapy (PT) is an invaluable tool for improving functional outcomes including hospital-associated disability and physical deconditioning. However, Black patients on trauma surgery services or with traumatic brain injury are less likely to be offered post-acute rehabilitation. Older White patients have higher [...]

Background: Lack of mobilization of hospitalized non-ICU medical patients has known negative consequences, including worse health and psychological outcomes, functional decline and increased hospital length of stay (1). Known challenges to increasing mobilization amongst inpatients include patient- and institutional-related limitations such as patient symptoms and lack of available assistance (2). At our urban, quaternary care, [...]

Background: There is a paucity of literature examining length of stay for medical patients requiring discharge to subacute rehabilitation facilities (SAR). At our institution, this subset of patients had an average length of stay (ALOS) of 8.2 days while medical patients being discharged to home had ALOS of 4.2 days during the first half of [...]

Background: Physical therapy (PT) is a valuable tool to help prevent the functional decline and loss of mobility hospitalized patients experience. Yet, it is a constrained resource in most hospital settings. The AM-PAC score is a validated tool that has been used to predict discharge destination within 48 hours of admission. It has also been [...]