Baycrest - www.baycrest.orgBaycrest Breakthroughs
Innovation in Aging - Winter 2010 Issue
 
care hands



An innovative new patient care program at Baycrest will provide frail elders with gently paced rehabilitation tailored to their needs.




A Gentle Pace

Baycrest Hospital opens a low-intensity rehabilitation unit for frail elderly patients.

A slower, gentler approach to rehabilitation following an acute illness – a stroke or heart attack for example – better prepares frail seniors to leave hospital and return to the community. The demand for that kind of specialized care is expected to increase in Ontario as the population of seniors doubles in the next 18 years.

To help meet that need, Baycrest has developed a “slow stream” rehabilitation program that combines low intensity therapy with a longer stay at Baycrest Hospital, giving elderly patients enough time to return to the community in better health.

The new Lewis & Charlotte Steinberg Slow Stream Rehabilitation Unit, named in honour of the donor who contributed $1 million to make it possible, “helps us fill a gap in the continuum of geriatric care at Baycrest,” says Marilyn El Bestawi, executive director of Baycrest Hospital.

An innovative rehabilitation program, supported by clinical research, can both improve care and reduce emergency room wait times. Without it, patients may “go home, then back to the emergency room, then home, then back to the emergency room in a revolving door scenario,” says El Bestawi. Because of the low number of rehabilitation beds currently available for treating elderly patients, she adds, many frail seniors are less able to lead normal lives in the community and may be admitted to long-term care earlier than necessary,

“Sometimes they go home needing personal care, which stresses other health-care resources,” El Bestawi says. “Meanwhile, their spouses are burned out and struggling.” The result: dependency, isolation, depression. With the addition of the Steinberg unit, Baycrest hopes to start turning that around.

Providing appropriate rehabilitation to people with reduced strength and endurance, cognitive deficits, problems with daily activities such as eating or bathing, or multiple medical conditions has the significant benefit of allowing them to “age at home or another residential setting in a dignified, safe and functional manner,” says Julie Grossman, clinical manager of the program.

The newly renovated 30-bed unit offers comprehensive, team-based care.

The newly renovated 30-bed unit offers comprehensive, team-based care. Most of the patients will be 75 and older, with about half expected to have cognitive problems. Recovering from acute medical challenges such as stroke, fractures or major surgery, they enter rehabilitation less able to tackle both a therapeutic regimen and basic daily tasks.

Gently paced to minimize frustration and maximize success, low-intensity rehabilitation lasts from 90 to 120 days, three to four times longer than the higher intensity model.

Designed to build self-confidence and promote independent self-care and mobility, the slow stream program will also train and support care providers, who can join patients for social, recreational and cultural programs.

The support does not have to end when patients leave Baycrest Hospital. “Once we have a better sense of this population, we want to develop outpatient programs,” says Grossman.

“The goal is for people to return to their original place in the community, with whatever community supports they need.”

 

Philanthropists with a flair for innovation

When Lewis and Charlotte Steinberg show their support, they make an impact – in an innovative way.

The couple has been generous to many organizations, including UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and North York General Hospital – where they helped to purchase leading-edge digital mammogram machines that were several years ahead of their time.

Lewis and Charlotte SteinbergWhile Lewis is from Montreal, Charlotte was born and raised in Brockville, Ontario, and worked as an X-ray technician in Montreal. Having experience in the health-care field, Charlotte says she’s developed a soft spot for causes such as hospitals.

Charlotte’s mother, Fanny, lived at the Terraces of Baycrest for three years and the family visited her every day. “I get a real feeling of family when I’m at Baycrest,” says Lewis. It’s another reason the Steinbergs developed an affinity for the organization.

Now, they’ve generously given $1 million for the innovative Slow Stream Rehabilitation Unit, which will be named in their honour. “I’m glad older people will get the care they need and then go home,” says Charlotte.

Their own home was designed to be fully accessible, with lots of room for wheelchairs and other assistive devices. “After all, we’re getting up there in age,” says Lewis. “We want Baycrest to be there for us, and for future generations.”