Community Rehab

Community-based rehabilitative care models can enhance patient outcomes and improve patient flow and transitions as patients move through the system.

The RCA is working to enhance awareness of the role community-based rehabilitation plays in helping people return home and in enhancing or maintaining function. This work includes identifying opportunities to spread innovative, cost-effective models of rehabilitative care.

White Paper on Community-Based Rehabilitation
Community-Based Rehabilitation: Providing High-Value Care in the Community is a four-part white paper that explores the critical role that community-based rehabilitation plays in the Ontario health system. Part 1: The Value of Community-Based Rehabilitation: An Overview introduces community-based rehabilitation and provides an overview of its value. Parts 2-4 provide examples of effective models of rehabilitative care and their outcomes, including virtual and hybrid models of care; recommendations to improve patient outcomes and support the spread of these models; an overview of key best practices; and a discussion of pandemic considerations. Part 2: In-Home Rehabilitation Part 3: Ambulatory Rehabilitation (Note: The RCA has now adopted the more inclusive language of “rehabilitation in outpatient/community clinics.”) Part 4: Rehabilitative Care in Primary Care To support the operationalization of this white paper, the RCA shared a briefing note including recommendations for action with the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health. The RCA has also developed a resource, available in English and French, to support Ontario Health Teams in integrating community-based rehab into their models of care: Realizing the Potential of Community-Based Rehabilitative Care Saisir le Potentiel des Soins de Réadaptation en Milieu Communautaire

White Paper on Community-Based Rehabilitation

Community-Based Rehabilitation: Providing High-Value Care in the Community is a four-part white paper that explores the critical role that community-based rehabilitation plays in the Ontario health system.

Part 1: The Value of Community-Based Rehabilitation: An Overview introduces community-based rehabilitation and provides an overview of its value.
Parts 2-4 provide examples of effective models of rehabilitative care and their outcomes, including virtual and hybrid models of care; recommendations to improve patient outcomes and support the spread of these models; an overview of key best practices; and a discussion of pandemic considerations.
- Part 2: In-Home Rehabilitation
- Part 3: Ambulatory Rehabilitation (Note: The RCA has now adopted the more inclusive language of “rehabilitation in outpatient/community clinics.”)
- Part 4: Rehabilitative Care in Primary Care

To support the operationalization of this white paper, the RCA shared a briefing note including recommendations for action with the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health. The RCA has also developed a resource, available in English and French, to support Ontario Health Teams in integrating community-based rehab into their models of care:

Community-Based Rehab PROM & PREM Toolkit
As per the recommendations stated in the White Paper on Community-Based Rehabilitation, the RCA conducted a review on the use of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) in community-based rehabilitative care to inform a standardized approach to a data collection and reporting system. The Community-Based Rehabilitation PROM & PREM Selection & Implementation Toolkit provides clinicians and community-based rehab organizations with the tools to successfully implement PROMs and PREMs and utilize the data collected. The toolkit also highlights recommendations for a generic PROM, as well as PREM questions to be implemented as part of a provincial community-rehab data collection and reporting system. Community-Based Rehab PROM & PREM Selection & Implementation Toolkit

Community-Based Rehab PROM & PREM Toolkit

As per the recommendations stated in the White Paper on Community-Based Rehabilitation, the RCA conducted a review on the use of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) in community-based rehabilitative care to inform a standardized approach to a data collection and reporting system.

The Community-Based Rehabilitation PROM & PREM Selection & Implementation Toolkit provides clinicians and community-based rehab organizations with the tools to successfully implement PROMs and PREMs and utilize the data collected. The toolkit also highlights recommendations for a generic PROM, as well as PREM questions to be implemented as part of a provincial community-rehab data collection and reporting system.

Community-Based Rehab PROM & PREM Selection & Implementation Toolkit

Briefing Note for OHTs
Increasing Attachment with Rehab Professionals in Primary Care Teams In April 2025, Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team announced a call for proposals to expand existing primary care teams or establish new ones where needed. Their ultimate goal is to connect every Ontarian to a primary care team within four years. In response, the Rehab Care Alliance released a briefing note emphasizing the value of including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and kinesiologists in interprofessional primary care teams. These professionals can help manage rising patient volumes and ease pressure on primary care providers.

Briefing Note for OHTs

Increasing Attachment with Rehab Professionals in Primary Care Teams

In April 2025, Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team announced a call for proposals to expand existing primary care teams or establish new ones where needed. Their ultimate goal is to connect every Ontarian to a primary care team within four years.

In response, the Rehab Care Alliance released a briefing note emphasizing the value of including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and kinesiologists in interprofessional primary care teams. These professionals can help manage rising patient volumes and ease pressure on primary care providers.