Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Individuals that experience more than one chronic condition (multimorbidity) tend to access the healthcare system more often. These people are at a higher risk for hospital use because their treatment is more complex due to the impact of disease and disability on their day-to-day activities. Functional decline increases health service utilization. Rehabilitation therapies (occupational therapy and physical therapy), are well positioned within the health care system to address the functional needs of individuals with multiple chronic conditions. Occupational therapists and physical therapists have expertise in assessing and treating both physical and functional complications that are experienced by these individuals. There is a lack of research about who receives rehabilitation therapy services among this population within the home care setting. It is also unclear whether rehabilitation therapy can impact health utilization. Understanding the characteristics of those who receive or do not receive rehabilitation services can assist in understanding who would most benefit from these services. This study involves using linked provincial-level data in Ontario to describe and compare the characteristics of patients with multimorbidity who have been discharged from an acute or inpatient rehabilitation unit in Ontario across three groups: 1) patients referred to home care rehabilitation therapy; 2) patients who do not receive rehabilitation therapy upon referral to home care; and 3) patients who do not receive home care. Understanding the characteristics of people referred to rehabilitation therapy services can shed light on health system utilization patterns and the system-level impact of rehabilitation therapy services.