Clinical Programs & Services News

Intensive Outpatient Program Propels Patients to New Levels of Independence

Transitioning from inpatient care to life at home can sometimes be challenging for individuals following a traumatic injury or illness. They no longer need the medical and nursing supervision provided 24/7 in a hospital, but would greatly benefit by continuing with rigorous rehabilitation. Magee’s Day Rehab Program is an intensive five-daya-week outpatient service with a supportive team of providers to help patients get accustomed to everyday life and work towards self-sufficiency.

Holistic Approach

Day Rehab is holistic in nature and designed for patients recovering from brain injury, stroke or spinal cord injury. It provides one-on-one physical, occupational and speech therapy sessions, therapeutic group activities, mental health support in group and individual sessions, and community outings, like visiting a local museum or park.

“Day Rehab kept the momentum of the progress I made during inpatient rehab,” said Jaden Leiby, a former Magee patient who attended Day Rehab in early 2019. “It definitely helped me grow as a person and achieve goals.”

Overcoming New Challenges

Venturing out as a group with support from rehab professionals allows patients to gain experience and confidence navigating daily life outside the home and hospital. This may include learning how to access the community in a wheelchair and gain time management skills needed to catch a train.

“The patients are involved in planning the outings before they embark later in the week,” said Joann Rudi, RN, CRRN, Magee Day Rehab Coordinator. “Each outing presents unique challenges and this helps the patients work towards their individual goals, whether that’s physical, cognitive or emotional.”

Colleen McAllister, Magee recreational therapist, and former patient, Jaden Leiby, play a video game during a rec therapy session.

Physical and Emotional Healing

Day Rehab’s holistic approach also includes opportunities to take part in music, art, horticultural and recreational therapies. This helps to meet patients’ physical and emotional needs as they progress on their own healing journeys.

“Even if my mood was low or I was in intense pain, Day Rehab helped me stay driven and get stronger,” said Amanda Lyons, a former Day Rehab patient recovering from a spinal cord injury. “Participating in art therapy and recreational therapy really helped me mentally, because those are things that I enjoy doing and they helped me disconnect from the leg pain I was experiencing.”

Easing the Transition to Home Life

When patients return home at night, they may face difficulties that only reveal themselves in a home or a community setting. Day Rehab provides a safe space to address those issues. “When patients come back to Day Rehab the next day, we are here to help them find solutions that get them closer to self-sufficiency,” said Joann.

While Day Rehab is a group program, patients have individualized rehab plans and goals to meet, which dictate length of participation from one to eight weeks. Often, a patient’s rehab goals focus on getting back to his or her career or educational pursuits.

The Day Rehab team meets every two weeks to discuss each patient’s progress and recommend next steps. This may include transitioning to traditional outpatient therapy or discharge to home.

“Seeing our patients reach specific goals is always the most rewarding part of the work we do,” added Joann. “One patient wanted to be able to walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day. Our therapists worked with him to practice that specific activity and successfully reach that goal.”

Individualized Day Rehab Goals Are Essential for Patients’ Transition to Work and Home Life

Each patient and their care team works on creating a rehab plan that is specific to their wants and needs. Individualized goals are based on several factors, including the severity of the injury or illness, home life, hobbies and return to work, if possible.

Antonio Ellis, a New Jersey police officer, underwent many months of physical and cognitive rehabilitation in 2020 while recovering from a severe bout with COVID-19. When Antonio transitioned from inpatient to Day Rehab, his goals focused on helping him return to the police force. In this photo, Antonio performed a simulated car seat inspection, as that was among his many duties as a police lieutenant. His job also entailed public speaking and leading training sessions. Antonio worked with his Day Rehab speech therapist to give a prepared presentation on distracted driving to a small group at Magee’s Riverfront outpatient facility. Jim Jones’ rehab plan was designed to help him prepare for his daughter’s upcoming wedding. He wanted to be well enough to walk her down the aisle. In this photo, Jim and his physical therapist practice the activity at the church where his daughter was to be married.

Amanda Lyons became paralyzed from the waist down when she was struck by a stray bullet in the spring of 2021. No longer having the use of her legs changed every aspect of her life. When she started Day Rehab, some of her goals focused on getting back to the classroom at Thomas Jefferson University where she served as an assistant professor of Occupational Therapy. Amanda’s therapists accompanied her to the building where she taught, so she could get a sense of what it would be like to access the building and work while using a wheelchair.

Hands-Free Voice Assistant Brings Independence, Convenience to Patients

Magee introduced new integrated smart room technology into all 83 inpatient rooms using the Aiva Health voice platform in early November 2021. “Our goal in introducing voice-controlled technology into patient rooms is to enable greater independence while we help them recover and return to their best possible way of life,” said Jeff Brown, director of IT Strategy at Jefferson Health.

This automation experience is the next step in creating an optimal experience for our patients. In 2020, Magee completed a facility renovation transforming all patient rooms into private suites. Each room is equipped with 55-inch flat screen TV’s, sleeper sofas for family members, and other home-like amenities.

How Patients Can Use Alexa

The biggest benefit of the Aiva Health platform is a better, more self-directed experience for patients, who can use Amazon’s Echo devices to control their rooms just by speaking. Patients can ask “Alexa” to open and close the blinds, change the room temperature and control the lights. This not only assists the patient, but also helps staff. In the past, patients would need to call a staff member to help with these environmental controls. Patients can also ask Alexa to play music and sleep sounds, or answer questions about the facility, like visiting hours.

“We’ve gotten such positive feedback from patients, who are so excited to have some sense of independence during their stay at Magee,” said Jeff. Protecting Privacy

All devices are specifically configured through Aiva and the Alexa Smart Properties management services to protect privacy and security. No personal information is shared with Alexa to use the device, and voice recordings are not saved. “The messages that patients relay to Alexa are encrypted. There’s no human review of the conversations,” said Jeff. For example, if a patient says, “Alexa, close the blinds,” the request, along with the room number, is sent to Aiva. Aiva then performs the action through its integration with the building management system.

Looking to the Future

Moving forward, Magee plans to introduce even more functionality to the Aiva Health platform. “Soon, we’ll be able to add television controls to the list of tasks that the devices can perform,” said Jeff. The team is also working on adding functionality to call a nurse or other staff member when patients ask certain questions, connect patients to an interpreter for language assistance and send requests to the environmental services (EVS) team.

“We’re constantly looking at more ways for patients to use these devices to improve both the patient experience and staff workflow,” said Jeff.

In 2020, Magee completed renovations which transformed all patient rooms into private suites with 55-inch flat screen TVs, sleeper sofas and other home-like amenities.