Project Overview

One in five older adults with dementia is hospitalized each year. One in three hospitalized older adults will lose independence in transferring, eating, ambulating, dressing, or bathing, which increases nursing home admission risk; this risk is 36% greater in people living with dementia (PLWD). Rehabilitation could decrease this risk, but PLWD get excluded from rehabilitation because of dementia-related stigma. There are no high-quality studies to refute these beliefs, which perpetuates exclusion of PLWD from rehabilitation.

1) Do rehabilitation services conducted at inpatient rehabilitation hospitals improve people living with dementia (PLWD)’s mobility and functional independence compared to usual treatment in the hospital?
2) Do rehabilitation services conducted at inpatient rehabilitation hospitals improve outcomes for health systems,such as shortening PLWD’s length of stay in hospital, compared to usual treatment in the hospital?
3) Can we implement and sustain rehabilitation services conducted at inpatient rehabilitation hospitals for PLWD?

We will conduct the highest quality of study, where people living with dementia (PLWD) will be randomly assigned to receive rehabilitation services at an inpatient rehabilitation hospital or usual treatment in the hospital. This type of study has never been done before and it will address a critical care gap by testing how rehabilitation services provided at an inpatient rehabilitation hospital can improve outcomes for PLWD and the healthcare system.

Our results could guide healthcare providers on how to provide people living with dementia (PLWD) with rehabilitation services at an inpatient rehabilitation hospital, outline the best practices on how to do so, and show that having dementia does not mean that someone cannot benefit from participating in rehabilitation. Such guidance could enable equitable and predictable access to rehabilitation for PWLD.

Our study addresses a critical gap in clinical care for people living with dementia (PLWD). Right now, PLWD are excluded from receiving rehabilitation services at inpatient rehabilitation hospitals because of dementia-related stigma and lack of high-quality studies to combat it. Our results could give PWLD the same opportunity as their peers to leave hospital with the capacity to live as independently as possible.

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Watt , University of Toronto

Partners and Donors

Alzheimer Society of Canada