Occupational Therapy Practitioners' Perspectives on Occupation-Based Interventions for Clients With Hip Fracture.

OBJECTIVE: Occupational engagement is the foundation of occupational therapy. We identified perspectives of 18 occupational therapy practitioners on integrating occupation-based interventions during postacute care (PAC) rehabilitation for persons with hip fracture to identify occupational therapy's distinct contribution. METHOD: We conducted six focus groups derived from a purposive national sample of occupational therapy practitioners (N = 18). A secondary analysis was conducted to analyze the transcripts for major subthemes around occupation-based interventions. RESULTS: Three major themes arose from practitioners' perspectives regarding the role of occupation in rehabilitation: (1) conducting an occupational profile, (2) integrating occupation-based intervention in the facility, and (3) identifying goals for occupational engagement after discharge. Challenges and strategies for integrating occupation-based interventions were also identified. CONCLUSION: Identifying practitioners' perspectives on integrating occupation into rehabilitation may inform strategies to facilitate occupation-based interventions in PAC and define occupational therapy's role in this setting.

Understanding Communication Between Rehabilitation Practitioners and Nurses: Implications for Post-Acute Care Quality.

Objective: This study examined post-acute care (PAC) rehabilitation practitioner's perspectives on communication. Method: This is a secondary data analysis of a larger qualitative study, which included PAC rehabilitation provider (n = 99) focus groups that were held in a purposive sample of 13 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Results: Participants emphasized the importance of bidirectional communication between rehabilitation and nursing. Three themes were identified: (a) communication between rehabilitation practitioners and registered nurses or licensed practical nurses, (b) communication between rehabilitation practitioners and certified nursing assistants, and (c) communication between rehabilitation practitioners and nursing leaders. Two subthemes within each of the three themes were further characterized to understand how information was exchanged: (a) static communication and (b) action-oriented communication. Conclusion: Our findings highlight opportunities for better communication in PAC between rehabilitation practitioners and nursing and thus lay a foundation for future efforts to improve care coordination through enhancing interdisciplinary communication.