Improving Patients’ Readiness for Discharge: The Development of An Occupation-Based Group Therapy Protocol in Inpatient Rehabilitation

The literature showed a lack of studies involving occupation-based group therapy in an inpatient rehabilitation setting, with notable barriers including lack of time, space, and equipment. The barriers lead occupational therapists (OT) to pursue an impairment-based approach, steering away from occupation-based approaches, which is what makes up the core of OT. Current literature is also limited to patients' perceptions of discharge readiness, with most research primarily concentrated on clinicians' perspectives. This 14-week capstone experience will include developing an occupation-based group therapy protocol for inpatient rehabilitation that will be implemented at Dignity Health Rehabilitation Hospital. Through conducting occupation-based group therapy in an inpatient rehabilitation setting for six weeks, surveys were provided to evaluate the program and to view patient's perceptions of readiness for discharge. The culminating experience provided Dignity Health Rehabilitation Hospital with additional resources for their OT department to conduct occupation-based group therapy. Patients' perceptions of readiness for discharge were evaluated through pre- and post-group surveys to view whether participating in occupation-based groups impacted readiness for discharge in conjunction with their inpatient rehabilitation stay.