Enhanced Medical Rehabilitation for Spinal Cord Injury

Study Summary

Background: Patient engagement is a cornerstone of patient-centered care. Studies show that an increased level of patient engagement in medical rehabilitation is associated with greater functional recovery. To achieve higher levels of patient engagement, it is important to improve therapists' techniques for goal setting and clinician-therapist communication. Thus, we have developed a manualized intervention for post-acute rehabilitation, Enhanced Medical Rehabilitation (EMR), which is an evidence-based program to increase patient engagement and achieve a greater intensity of therapy, thereby optimizing the patient's functional and psychosocial recovery. EMR is an integrated set of skills for occupational and physical therapists that transform rehabilitation through (1) a patient-directed, interactive approach; (2) increased treatment intensity; and (3) frequent feedback to patients on effort and progress. We have developed training and supervision methods to enable therapists to carry out these skills with high fidelity. In our previous EMR study of older adults in skilled nursing facilities, patients treated by EMR-trained therapists had greater engagement in therapy, higher-intensity therapy sessions, and better functional outcomes. Due to the complexity of the inpatient spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation environment, it is unknown whether the EMR program will be clinically relevant to inpatient rehabilitation settings and acceptable to SCI populations. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a systematic adaptation approach to address all hospital- and provider-level barriers, and test this adapted program to a new setting (inpatient rehabilitation) and a new population (patients with SCI), without compromising the core elements of the original EMR. Objective: We propose to adopt the EMR program for use in inpatient SCI rehabilitation settings using an implementation science-driven approach. We also propose a randomized trial of 80 patients with SCI to test t

Primary Outcome

The investigators will use the CARE tool to measure the level of independence as the primary outcome at both admission and discharge. At admission, the investigators will use the CARE tool to measure the patient's independence before the treatment. At discharge, the investigators will use the same CARE tool to measure the patient's independence after the treatment. This clinician-rated measure contains 18 items composed of 13 motor and 5 cognitive tasks. Tasks are rated on a 6-point ordinal sca

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Enhanced Medical Rehabilitation (EMR)