The RCA has released a new guide to best practice rehabilitative care for frail seniors in the context of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has restricted frail seniors in the community to their homes, apartments and retirement homes. As a result, this already vulnerable population is at high risk of social isolation and physical deconditioning.

As health care services begin to reopen, rehabilitative care must be a priority. Frail Seniors: Guidance on Best Practice Rehabilitative Care in the Context of COVID-19 provides best practice recommendations to guide provision of rehabilitative care services to frail older adults and guidance on what should be considered as these services are reopened.

Recognizing the urgent need for best practice guidance in this current context, the RCA also accelerated the release of the Frail Seniors Rehabilitative Care Best Practice Framework: Bedded Levels of Care. The framework provides detailed evidence-based recommendations on how to deliver best practice rehabilitative care in a bedded setting to support better clinical outcomes for frail older adults and improve flow within the system. Additional frameworks for community rehab, i.e., primary care, outpatient/ambulatory and in-home settings, will be released later this year.

Please note: To enable early release of the framework, stakeholder review of the framework was streamlined. The RCA is open to further revisions based on feedback from users.

For more information, please contact Gabrielle Sadler, Project Manager.