There is limited information regarding the provision of rehabilitation services in long-term care (LTC) to meet the needs of residents living with stroke. This project assessed service availability within Ontario-based homes and examined the relationship between service comprehensiveness and functional outcome for residents with rehabilitation potential. The first phase involved survey development and distribution to a sample of homes to assess comprehensiveness. The second phase linked survey findings and administrative data to determine whether comprehensiveness (measured using an index score derived from survey responses) was correlated with change in functional status using linear regression modeling. There was marked variability in service comprehensiveness across responding homes (n=32 of 154 homes; 21%). No significant linear correlation was shown between comprehensiveness and change in ADL function (n=178). Although our study failed to show an association, rehabilitation should be considered an important aspect of LTC programming and should adhere to practice standards where possible.

There is limited information regarding the provision of rehabilitation services in long-term care (LTC) to meet the needs of residents living with stroke. This project assessed service availability within Ontario-based homes and examined the relationship between service comprehensiveness and functional outcome for residents with rehabilitation potential. The first phase involved survey development and distribution to a sample of homes to assess comprehensiveness. The second phase linked survey findings and administrative data to determine whether comprehensiveness (measured using an index score derived from survey responses) was correlated with change in functional status using linear regression modeling. There was marked variability in service comprehensiveness across responding homes (n=32 of 154 homes; 21%). No significant linear correlation was shown between comprehensiveness and change in ADL function (n=178). Although our study failed to show an association, rehabilitation should be considered an important aspect of LTC programming and should adhere to practice standards where possible.