Rehab Care Standards

The RCA’s bedded and community-based frameworks establish standardized levels of care for rehabilitative care programs. These frameworks describe how programs are categorized (level of care), the components of care provided and the human resources needed to deliver that care. Establishing consistent definitions provides clarity for patients, families and referring professionals and can support planning at the local and regional level.

The RCA has worked with health care providers to implement the frameworks across Ontario. It has revised the bedded framework to reflect increased patient complexity, changes in the system and current rehab care resources.

The RCA has also developed an evidence-based resource (primer) for OHTs that outlines how rehabilitative care can improve outcomes in primary care, hospitals and the community.

The next steps for the RCA include:

• Offering information webinars to Ontario Health regions on the bedded framework to support further integration of the rehabilitative care standards across the province
• Working with Ontario Health – Health System Performance and Support and the Ministry of Health to define new models of care (e.g., transitional care, reactivation care) in alignment with the RCA bedded levels of care
• Conducting a review of the community-based framework for rehabilitative care

The frameworks, primer and supplemental resources can be found here.