Ms Emma Martin1, Mrs Sarah Jessup1, Ms Bella Daley1
1St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Health Independence Programs – Community Rehabilitation Services, Fairfield, 3078 & Kew, 3101, Australia
Abstract:
Purpose:
Implement an outcome measure to evaluate the overall impact CRS has on a patient’s health-related quality of life (QOL).
Nature and scope of the topic:
Effective rehabilitation is described as “optimising a patient’s self-rated quality of life and degree of social integration through optimising independence in activities, minimising pain and distress, and optimising the ability to adapt” (Wade, 2020).
Therefore, a health-related quality of life measure was investigated and implemented by our CRS.
Benchmarking QOL measures at other Melbourne CRS (n=9) concluded that the EQ-5D-5L is currently used by n=5 CRS. The EQ-5D-5L was chosen based on this benchmarking, a literature review and staff consultation identifying barriers and facilitators.
The EQ-5D-5L was introduced with a guideline covering completion criteria, scoring, medical record documentation template, and translated versions.
Weekly case reviews and 3-monthly staff presentations are utilised as reminders to ensure continued compliance. Results of the EQ-5D-5L are detailed in Care Plans and this data is collected to enable analysis of admission and discharge scores, which is presented back to the team, GP, and patient.
Issue under consideration:
Literature provides scores for Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) values for the EQ-5D-5L for a variety of health conditions. Analysis of six month’s data (n=185) shows the CRS demonstrates effective rehabilitation with regard to health-related QOL.
Outcome:
CRS provide an effective service which improves patient’s quality of life on a scale which is recognised as reliable and valid for various health conditions, with clear objectives for MCID being met and often exceeded.