FAQs

What is Subacute Rehabilitation?

The subacute rehabilitation program offers an expanded level of service to patients in need of short-term rehabilitation care before returning home. The flexibility of the program in caring for patients at different stages of the rehabilitation process makes it an ideal option for individuals either beginning or continuing their rehabilitation treatment.

Who Can Benefit?

Subacute rehabilitation is well suited for individuals who may not be medically able to participate in full-day, intensive therapy, such as those with orthopedic injuries, that are not yet weight-bearing. Subacute rehabilitation may also be recommended for those who have progressed well in acute rehabilitation and have met most of their rehabilitation goals. These individuals may be functioning at a relatively high level, but require training to master certain tasks, such as stair climbing, before returning home.

Subacute rehabilitation is also appropriate for those recovering from hip or knee surgery, fractures and other orthopedic conditions. Generally, individuals in need of short-term rehabilitation who are medically stable, motivated to participate and who show reasonable potential to achieve their rehabilitation goals within a relatively short time are candidates for the subacute program. Patients typically are admitted directly from an acute care hospital once their condition has stabilized.

Subacute Treatment Plan and Goals

Following a thorough evaluation by a team of physicians, nurses and therapists, a treatment plan will be customized to meet a patient's needs and goals. Most individuals require a combination of physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech/swallowing therapy and skilled nursing care. Recreation therapy professionals incorporate a wide selection of leisure activities into the treatment plan, providing an integral link to resuming life in the community.

The treatment team is committed to restoring maximum functioning in the shortest period of time. Treatment goals may include walking, climbing stairs independently, managing daily routines, such as bathing and dressing, transfer techniques, such as getting in and out of bed, and regaining strength and endurance.

What is Long Term Care?

Individuals need long-term care when a chronic condition, trauma, or illness limits their ability to carry out basic self-care tasks, called activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing dressing or eating.

Long term care comprises a broad range of services provided to persons of all ages who have lost their ability to function independently because of a physical or mental impairment. Long-term care differs from other types of health care in that its goal is not to cure an illness, but to allow an individual to attain and maintain an optimal level of functioning.

Long term care services include personal care, home health care, rehabilitation, adult day care, care management, social services, assisted living, and nursing home services. Long term care services may be delivered on a regular basis or intermittently over a period of several months, several years, or a lifetime.

What conditions may lead to a need for long term care?

The list of conditions that may trigger the need for long term care is lengthy. It includes, but is not limited to: spinal cord injuries, stroke, physical frailty, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, dementia, senility, AIDS, and the long term effects of diabetes, autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, circulatory diseases and heart conditions, Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and multiple sclerosis.

Isn't most long term care delivered in a nursing home?

Not really. Many of the diseases that ultimately result in a person requiring long term care are progressive and degenerative.

In the early stages of a disease, the individual may need part-time assistance with certain daily chores. Later, as independence becomes more challenging, the person may live with relatives or friends, or possibly move into some type of assisted living arrangement, and only when full-time care is needed, a nursing home. Sometimes individuals who normally need care in nursing home are permitted to remain in an assisted living arrangement if facility can provide the necessary care. Many older people have functional limitations and need ongoing assistance, yet are not so disabled as to require nursing home care.

How will my family or friends and I know which nursing home to choose?

If your loved one is in the hospital, your social worker will help in planning for nursing home placement. You and your caregiver should select several nursing homes for admission. Placement often happens very quickly after applications are completed. Contact, visit and tour as many nursing homes as you can.

What legal documents should I have in place before entering a nursing home?

All adults should strongly consider making certain decisions before a crisis hits. Executing a Financial Power of Attorney and Advance Directives, including a Living Will, will enable the competent adult to direct what care he or she may want in the future.

What does Medicare pay for in a nursing home?

Medicare may pay a portion of the bill for a very specific period of time if the patient is determined to need skilled nursing care. The maximum benefit period is 100 days. Example of skilled needs may include an open wound that needs dressings and treatments, a tracheostomy, a newly placed feeding tube or the need for extensive physical and occupational therapy. Most people do not qualify for skilled care for an extended period of time. The majority of nursing home care is paid for privately or by Medicaid.

What is Assisted Living?

Assisted living is part of a continuum of long term care services that provides a combination of housing, personal care services, and health care designed to respond to individuals who need assistance with normal daily activities in a way that promotes maximum independence.

Assisted living services can be provided in freestanding residences, near or integrated with skilled nursing homes or hospitals, as components of continuing care retirement communities, or at independent housing complexes.

Assisted living residences offer a multi-faceted residential setting that provides personal care services, 24-hour supervision and assistance, activities and health-related services, designed to:

• Minimize the need to relocate;

• Accommodate individual residents’ changing needs and preferences;

• Maximize residents’ dignity, autonomy, privacy, independence, choice and safety; and

• Encourage family and community involvement.