Physical and Occupational Therapy Staffing Patterns in Nursing Homes and Their Association with Long-stay Resident Outcomes and Quality of Care

Therapy-based allied health delivery in residential aged care, trends, factors, and outcomes: a systematic review

“…Conversely, other studies reported that physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and overall social service staffing was highest is smaller facilities [45,48]. There was no association between facility size and occupational therapy assistant and aide staffing in one study [44].…”

“…Three US studies reported on the association between therapy staffing and occupancy rates. Lower RACF occupancy rates were associated with high physiotherapy and occupational therapy staffing in one study [43,44] but no association in two others [29,53].…”

“…Information on access to or employment of psychologists [51], diversional therapists [51], speech pathologists [34], and podiatry [38] were only available in individual studies (Table 4). Occupational therapy assistants 0.09 [43][44][45] Social work assistants 0.076 [48,49] Speech pathology < 0.01 [56] 0.06 [43][44][45] Podiatry 0.01 [56] Dietetics < 0.01 [56] Lifestyle officers 0.12 [56] Diversional therapists 0.01 [56] Other 0.01 a [56] Total 0.25 [56] 0.22 a [37] In Canada, 84% of survey respondents reported that their facility hired a therapy assistant [31]. In the same US study paraprofessional staff were hired to deliver social care in 57% of facilities (Table 4) and were the only source of social care in 11-18% of RACFs [40,49].…”

“…Two US studies reported on the impact of hospitalbased location on allied health HPRD. Hospital-based facilities had higher physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and qualified social worker [43,44] HPRD but had lower use of paraprofessionals and interprofessional teams to deliver social services [49].…”

Effects of Early Postdischarge Rehabilitation Services on Care Needs–Level Deterioration in Older Adults With Functional Impairment: A Propensity Score–Matched Study

“…14,36 Studies have also noted that multidisciplinary care involving rehabilitation therapists is important for improving outcomes in long-stay residents of nursing homes. 20,37 Rehabilitation services provided by rehabilitation therapists may therefore help to prevent further physical and/or cognitive decline among older adults with functional impairment. A recent systematic review also concluded that rehabilitation services can improve independence in older patients residing in LTC facilities, albeit with relatively small effects.…”