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The persistent postacute effects of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) illness are and will continue to negatively impact the growing numbers of people recovering from acute viral illness. Rehabilitation providers are criticalmembers of the interdisciplinary care team that screen for, evaluate, treat, and manage Long COVID sequalae. However, current models of outpatient rehabilitation may lack the organizational capacity to effectively treat a large volume of patients at a higher frequency and longer duration currently indicated under emerging clinical consensus. Thus, the purpose of this special communication is to outline challenges in organizational capacity to scaling Long COVID care through illustrative examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Early mobilization in the intensive care unit (ICU) can improve patient outcomes but has perceived barriers to implementation. As part of an ongoing structured quality improvement project to increase mobilization of medical ICU patients by nurses and clinical technicians, we adapted the existing, validated Patient Mobilization Attitudes & Beliefs Survey (PMABS) for the ICU setting and evaluated its performance characteristics and results. Materials and Methods: The 26-item PMABS adapted for the ICU (PMABS-ICU) was administered as an online survey to 163 nurses, clinical technicians, respiratory therapists, attending and fellow physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants in one medical ICU. We evaluated the overall and subscale (knowledge, attitude, and behavior) scores and compared these scores by respondent characteristics (clinical role and years of work experience). Results: The survey response rate was 96% (155/163). The survey demonstrated acceptable discriminant validity and acceptable internal consistency for the overall scale (Cronbach a: 0.82, 95% confidence interval: 0.76-0.85), with weaker internal consistency for all subscales (Cronbach a: 0.62-0.69). Across all respondent groups, the overall barrier score (range: 1-100) was relatively low, with attending physicians perceiving the lowest barriers (median [interquartile range]: 30 [28-34]) and nurses perceiving the highest (37 [31-40]). Within the first 10 years of work experience, greater experience was associated with a lower overall barrier score (-0.8 for each additional year; P = 0.02). Conclusions: In our medical ICU, across 6 different clinical roles, there were relatively low perceived barriers to patient mobility, with greater work experience over the first 10 years being associated with lower perceived barriers. As part of a structured quality improvement project, the PMABSICU may be valuable in assisting to identify specific perceived barriers for consideration in designing mobility interventions for the ICU setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose:Knowledge-related barriers to safely implement early rehabilitation programs in intensive care units (ICUs) may be overcome via targeted education. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive educational session on short-term knowledge of clinical decision-making for safe rehabilitation of patients in ICUs. Method:A case-based teaching approach, drawing from published safety recommendations for initiation of rehabilitation in ICUs, was used with a multidisciplinary audience. An audience response system was incorporated to promote interaction and evaluate knowledge before vs. after the educational session. Results:Up to 175 audience members, of 271 in attendance (129 (48%) physical therapists, 51 (19%) occupational therapists, 31 (11%) nursing, 14 (5%) physician, 46 (17%) other), completed both the pre- and post-test questions for each of the six unique patient cases. In four of six patient cases, there was a significant (p< 0.001) increase in identifying the correct answer regarding initiation of rehabilitation activities. This learning effect was similar irrespective of participants’ years of experience and clinical discipline. Conclusions:An interactive, case-based, educational session may be effective for increasing short-term knowledge, and identifying knowledge gaps, regarding clinical decision-making for safe rehabilitation of patients in ICUs.Implications for RehabilitationLack of knowledge regarding the safety considerations for early rehabilitation of ICU patients is a barrier to implementing early rehabilitation.Interactive educational formats, such as the use of audience response systems, offer a new method of teaching and instantly assessing learning of clinically important information.In a small study, we have shown that an interactive, case-based educational format may be used to effectively teach clinical decision-making for the safe rehabilitation of ICU patients to a diverse audience of clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We sought to understand physiotherapists' and physiotherapist assistants' perspectives on using three physical function measures in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting: the Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care Inpatient Mobility Short Form, the Johns Hopkins Highest Level of Mobility scale, and the Functional Status Score for the Intensive Care Unit. Method: A six-item questionnaire was developed and administered to physiotherapists and physiotherapist assistants working in adult ICUs at one U.S. teaching hospital. A single semi-structured focus group was conducted with seven physiotherapists, recruited using purposive sampling to include participants with a range of clinical experience. Results: Of 22 potential participants, 18 physiotherapists and 2 physiotherapist assistants completed the questionnaire. Seven physiotherapists participated in the focus group. The questionnaire found favourable perspectives on the use of the three physical function measures in clinical practice, and the focus group identified five themes related to clinicians' experience with using them: (1) ease of scoring, (2) usefulness in inter-professional communication, (3) general ease of use, (4) responsiveness to change in physical function, and (5) generalizability across patients. Conclusions: The most frequently discussed themes in this study were ease of scoring and usefulness in inter-professional communication, highlighting their importance in designing and selecting physical function measures for clinical use in the ICU setting., (© Canadian Physiotherapy Association.)