Slow Stream Rehabilitation for Older Adults: A Scoping Review

• Published in: Canadian journal on aging Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 328 - 349
• Main Authors: Maximos, Melody, Seng-iad, Sirirat, Tang, Ada, Stratford, Paul, Bello-Haas, Vanina Dal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada Cambridge University Press 01.09.2019
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Adults; Chronic illnesses; Cognitive ability; Cognitive impairment; Comorbidity; Dementia; Frailty; Health care policy; Health problems; Health services; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Interdisciplinary aspects; Literature reviews; Medicine; Morbidity; Nursing homes; Older people; Participation; Patients; Rehabilitation; Systematic review; Treatment programs; Canada; soins de santé; réadaptation lente; single payer; slow stream rehabilitation; examen de la portée; multimorbidité; payeur unique; aging; health care; multi-morbidity; scoping review; vieillissement
• ISSN: 0714-9808; 1710-1107
• DOI: 10.1017/S0714980818000740

ABSTRACTCanadian older adults with complex health problems are often considered ineligible for traditional rehabilitation programs but may benefit from slow stream rehabilitation (SSR). This scoping review summarizes the literature related to SSR for older adults, within single-payer health care systems. Peer-reviewed and grey-literature documents relevant to older adults in SSR were systematically reviewed. 1,445 documents were screened independently by two reviewers [Cohen Kappa value of 0.78 (CI = 0.73, 0.83)], and included 18 documents. SSR programs were found to be multidisciplinary with a mean duration ranging from 30 to 141.2 days. SSR participants were more likely to be female, with a mean age range of 72-82 years, multiple co-morbidities and mild-to-moderate cognitive impairments. SSR participants demonstrated improvements in physical and functional measures. SSR programs have the potential to be an integral part of the continuum of care for older adults with complex medical histories.