Abstract:BACKGROUND
Ambulating medical inpatients may improve outcomes, but this practice is often overlooked by nurses who have competing clinical duties.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of dedicated mobility technician‐assisted ambulation in older inpatients.
DESIGN
This study was a single‐blind randomized controlled trial.
SETTING
Patients aged ≥60 years and admitted as medical inpatients to a tertiary care center were recruited.
INTERVENTION
Patients were randomized into two g… Show more
“…Twenty studies focused on patient perspectives [ 42 – 61 ], ten described HCPs’ perspectives [ 62 – 71 ], 16 focused on both patients and HCPs [ 72 – 86 ], one described patient and caregiver perspectives [ 87 ], and one described patient, caregiver, and HCP perspectives [ 88 ]. Furthermore, 12 studies [ 49 , 51 , 53 , 56 , 72 , 74 , 76 – 80 , 83 ] investigated the effects of a PA intervention by comparing two study population groups. Fig.…”
Background
To improve older patients’ physical activity (PA) behavior, it is important to identify facilitators and barriers to enhancing PA in older patients (≥ 65 years) during hospitalization from the perspectives of patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals (HCPs).
Methods
In this systematic review, a search of PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Web of Science (January 2000–May 2021) was performed, and quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies were included. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Identified facilitators and barriers were categorized using the social ecological model at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional levels.
Results
The 48 included articles identified 230 facilitators and 342 barriers. The main facilitators at the intrapersonal level included: knowledge, awareness, and attitudes; interpersonal level: social support, including encouragement and interdisciplinary collaboration; and institutional level: stimulating physical environment, patient activities and schedules, and PA protocols. The main barriers at the intrapersonal level included: physical health status, having lines or drains, patients’ fear, and HCPs’ safety concerns; interpersonal level: patient-HCP relation and HCPs’ unclear roles; and institutional level: lack of space and resources, including time and equipment. Best evidence synthesis provided moderate level of evidence for three barriers: patients’ unwillingness or refusal to move, patients having symptoms, and patients having lines or drains. No moderate level of evidence was found for facilitators.
Conclusion
The PA behavior of older adults during hospitalization is multidimensional. Our overview highlights facilitators and barriers on multilevel scale (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional levels) that guides patients, caregivers, HCPs, and researchers in future clinical practice, and intervention development and implementation.
“…Twenty studies focused on patient perspectives [ 42 – 61 ], ten described HCPs’ perspectives [ 62 – 71 ], 16 focused on both patients and HCPs [ 72 – 86 ], one described patient and caregiver perspectives [ 87 ], and one described patient, caregiver, and HCP perspectives [ 88 ]. Furthermore, 12 studies [ 49 , 51 , 53 , 56 , 72 , 74 , 76 – 80 , 83 ] investigated the effects of a PA intervention by comparing two study population groups. Fig.…”
Background
To improve older patients’ physical activity (PA) behavior, it is important to identify facilitators and barriers to enhancing PA in older patients (≥ 65 years) during hospitalization from the perspectives of patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals (HCPs).
Methods
In this systematic review, a search of PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Web of Science (January 2000–May 2021) was performed, and quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies were included. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Identified facilitators and barriers were categorized using the social ecological model at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional levels.
Results
The 48 included articles identified 230 facilitators and 342 barriers. The main facilitators at the intrapersonal level included: knowledge, awareness, and attitudes; interpersonal level: social support, including encouragement and interdisciplinary collaboration; and institutional level: stimulating physical environment, patient activities and schedules, and PA protocols. The main barriers at the intrapersonal level included: physical health status, having lines or drains, patients’ fear, and HCPs’ safety concerns; interpersonal level: patient-HCP relation and HCPs’ unclear roles; and institutional level: lack of space and resources, including time and equipment. Best evidence synthesis provided moderate level of evidence for three barriers: patients’ unwillingness or refusal to move, patients having symptoms, and patients having lines or drains. No moderate level of evidence was found for facilitators.
Conclusion
The PA behavior of older adults during hospitalization is multidimensional. Our overview highlights facilitators and barriers on multilevel scale (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional levels) that guides patients, caregivers, HCPs, and researchers in future clinical practice, and intervention development and implementation.
“…It will be important to build on multidisciplinary approaches which may be the most effective way to promote mobility in hospitalized older adults 16 and include co-design based on robust theoretical frameworks to measure process as well as outcomes. 55 Different ways of engaging and assisting people to be active in hospital in addition to physiotherapy and occupational therapy, 56 could include family, 57 trained volunteer, 58 allied health assistant, 59 exercise physiology 60 and mobility technician 61 programs.…”
Objective: To identify interventions using wearable accelerometers to measure physical activity and/or sedentary behaviour in adults during hospitalization for an acute medical/surgical condition. Data sources: Four databases were searched in August 2019 (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, EMBASE). Review methods: Studies were selected if they described an intervention in adults with a medical/surgical condition, and concurrently reported an accelerometer-derived measure of physical activity and/or sedentary behaviour while participants were admitted. Items were screened for eligibility in duplicate. Included studies were synthesized to describe intervention types, feasibility and potential effectiveness. Results: Twenty-two studies were included, reporting on 3357 participants (2040 with accelerometer data). Identified types of interventions were: pre-habilitation ( n = 2) exercise ( n = 3), patient behaviour change with self-monitoring ( n = 6), models of care ( n = 5), implementing system change ( n = 2), surgical technique ( n = 2) patients wearing day clothes ( n = 1) and education about activity in hospital ( n = 1). Of 16 studies that reported intervention effects on physical activity, 11 reported a favourable impact including studies of: pre-habilitation, self-monitoring (accelerometry or an activity whiteboard), physiotherapy, an early mobility bundle, minimally invasive surgery, an education booklet and by implementing system change. Of the six studies that reported intervention effects on sedentary behaviour, there was a favourable impact with an activity whiteboard, models of care and an education booklet. Conclusion: Accelerometer-derived measures of physical activity and/or sedentary behaviour have been used to describe sample characteristics and intervention effects in studies of hospitalized adults. Interventions may involve a range of health professionals, but less is known about sedentary behaviour in this setting.
“…In support, Larsen et al 13 showed that accelerated discharge after TKA may contribute to decreased overall hospital cost. Additionally, Hamilton et al 14 have found that the use of MTs with medical inpatients helped them to take more steps in the hospital, which was predictive of a discharge to home. Though a precise step count was not recorded, we observed a statistically significant increase in the rate of discharge to home when patients were enrolled in the MTP of 9%; as the MTP matures, we expect this number to increase.…”
Since the 2016 implementation of the comprehensive care for joint replacement (CJR) bundled payment model, our institutions have sought to decrease inpatient physical therapy (PT) costs by piloting a mobility technician program (MTP), where mobility technicians (MTs) ambulate postoperative total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients under the supervision of nursing staff members. MTs are certified medical assistants given specialized gate and ambulation training by the PT department. The aim of this study was to examine the economic and clinical impact of MTs on the primary TKA postoperative pathway. We performed a retrospective review of TKA patients who underwent surgery at our institution between April 2018 and March 2019 and who were postoperatively ambulated by MTs. The control group included patients who had surgery during the same months of the prior year, preceding introduction of MTs to the floor. Inclusion criteria included: unilateral primary TKA for arthritic conditions and conversion to unilateral primary TKA from a previous knee surgery. Minitab Software (State College, PA) was used to perform the statistical analysis. There were 658 patients enrolled in the study group and 1,400 in the control group. The two groups shared similar demographics and an average age of 68 (p = 0.177). The median length of stay (LOS) was 2 days in both groups (p = 0.133) with 90.5% of patients in the study group discharged to home versus 81.5% of patients in the control group (p < 0.001). The ability of MTs to increase patient discharge to home without negatively impacting LOS suggest MTs are valuable both clinically to patients, and economically to the institution. Cost analysis highlighted the substantial cost savings that MTs may create in a bundled payment system. With the well-documented benefits of early ambulation following TKA, we demonstrate how MTs can be an asset to optimizing the care pathway of TKA patients.
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