Rehabilitation should begin in the intensive care unit (ICU). This allows people to start their recovery during the acute phase of treatment, without losing valuable time.
We are working to develop this area through the TRUE — Trauma Rehabilitation for Ukraine project. In our previous post, we shared more about what exactly we are doing in this area.
At the same time, we are also working to advance rehabilitation in intensive care through another project, “Understanding the Continuum of Care for Acute and Critically Ill Patients: Strengthening Rehabilitation Pathways in Ukraine” under the Seed Funding Programme.
Together with our partners, we will examine how the patient pathway from intensive care to further recovery is currently organized in Ukraine, whether patients receive rehabilitation care, how timely its initiation is, where gaps occur, and how continuity of care can be ensured.
What are we doing as part of the project?
- Mapping patient pathways
We are analyzing data to determine what proportion of patients receive rehabilitation care after an ICU stay, when rehabilitation begins, and how patients transition from one stage of care to another. We will also identify which pathways are continuous and where gaps occur.
Based on these data, we will develop a visual model of the patient pathway — from intensive care through to further rehabilitation. This will help illustrate the key stages of the pathway and identify where gaps in rehabilitation care occur.
- Assessing outcomes across different pathways
We will compare different rehabilitation pathways and assess how they are associated with patient outcomes. In particular, we will analyze mortality during the ICU stay and within 30 days after discharge.
- Identifying where the system needs to change
Based on the findings, we will identify key gaps in the availability, timeliness, and continuity of rehabilitation care following an ICU stay. This will help us understand at which points along the patient pathway changes are needed to ensure continuous access to the rehabilitation care patients require.
Ultimately, we aim to develop a clear understanding of how patients currently move from intensive care to rehabilitation, where gaps in the pathway occur, and what changes are needed to improve this pathway.
The project “Understanding the Continuum of Care for Acute and Critically Ill Patients: Strengthening Rehabilitation Pathways in Ukraine” is part of the Seed Funding Programme and is implemented under the Twinning Initiative, managed by Cormack Consultancy Group (CCG). The project is implemented by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) in cooperation with the Patients of Ukraine Charitable Foundation as part of the TRUE “Trauma Rehabilitation for Ukraine” initiative, and Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University (VNU).
