Healthcare professionals' perspectives on rehabilitating persons with cognitive impairment.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Despite emerging evidence that persons with cognitive impairment (CI) (including dementia and/or delirium) can be rehabilitated post-hip fracture surgery, there still remains a paucity of research on best practice rehabilitation strategies that help healthcare providers effectively rehabilitate persons with CI. Therefore, this qualitative study explores healthcare professionals' (HCPs) perspectives who have been successfully providing rehabilitation for people with CI.


RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Sixteen HCPs with a specialty in rehabilitating persons with CI from one inpatient rehabilitation facility with various professional backgrounds were purposively sampled using a maximum diversity sampling strategy. Three focus group discussions were conducted to explore their experiences of providing rehabilitation to persons with CI. A hybrid inductive-deductive approach was used to analyze the data.


FINDINGS
HCPs acknowledged that older adults with CI deserved the opportunity for inpatient rehabilitation and that good outcomes were achievable; however, their knowledge, skills, and attitudes required reframing. The analysis identified three essential components to rehabilitation: (1) staff education and support, (2) tailored rehabilitation approaches, and (3) care partner involvement and support.


DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
Rehabilitation of persons with CI post-hip fracture surgery is achievable, and HCPs can learn to modify their practices to achieve positive patient outcomes. The attitudes of the healthcare team members had to be shifted to embrace the belief that persons with CI can be rehabilitated. However, it takes a steep learning curve, creativity, ingenuity, and tailored approaches to rehabilitate persons with CI successfully. This involves knowing the individual, maintaining routines, and learning the best ways to engage and motivate the person. As well, care partners' knowledge and understanding of the individual improved the chances of a successful rehabilitation stay and discharge. Essential to the success of rehabilitation of persons with CI includes a supportive management team to help create the processes to enable their staff to succeed.
['McGilton|Katherine S|KS|', 'Vellani|Shirin|S|https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6032-0266', 'Zheng|Nancy|N|', 'Wang|Daniel|D|', 'Yeung|Lydia|L|', 'Escrig-Pinol|Astrid|A|']
D000368:Aged D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction D003695:Delivery of Health Care D003704:Dementia D005260:Female D017144:Focus Groups D006282:Health Personnel D006801:Humans D008297:Male D012046:Rehabilitation
rehabilitation cognitive impairment dementia aged hip fracture patient-centered care