The GTA Rehab Network proudly partners with Ontario Health Teams (OHTs) that strive to integrate rehabilitative care within their population health approach. This work directly supports our strategic commitment to building healthier communities, with a focus on upstream prevention, equity, and recognition of rehab as essential to all care. In particular, the Network provides expertise and resources to help OHTs plan and provide rehab services for their priority populations.

Our work in this area includes the following:

• Advocating for rehabilitative care: Evidence shows that rehabilitative care improves health outcomes for patients, shortens hospital stays and helps older adults to maintain function and avoid hospitalization. This brief overview demonstrates how rehab care services can help OHTs deliver on the quadruple aim.
  • Rehabilitative Care: An Essential Component of Connected Care – A guide for Ontario Health Teams
• Helping OHTs support older adults with a Paramedic Post-Fall Pathway: In collaboration with Toronto Paramedic Services and the North Western Toronto OHT, the Network has adapted the Rehabilitative Care Alliance’s Older Adult Community Paramedic Post-Fall Rehabilitative Care Pathway for use in the GTA. The initiative assists older adults who have fallen and not been transported to hospital, but who may benefit from rehab referrals, resources or other programs to help prevent future falls. As paramedics often respond to these incidents, they are well-positioned to help prevent future falls and functional decline.Over the coming months, the Network will engage with other Network members and their Ontario Health Teams to explore opportunities to spread this model more broadly.
  • For more information, please contact us directly.
• Developing rehabilitation guidelines for three priority populations: The Network’s population-specific guides for OHTs provide brief, evidence-based information on how rehab contributes to care and positive patient outcomes for three priority populations: individuals with congestive heart failure, individuals with COPD and older adults with frailty. The guides also outline recommendations to assist OHTs in planning rehabilitative care.
  • Rehabilitative Care for Congestive Heart Failure
  • Rehabilitative Care for Frail Seniors — we thank the Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto for reviewing and providing input into this document.
  • Rehabilitative Care for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Developing guidance on specialized rehabilitative care: Specialized rehabilitation is required for certain populations to ensure optimal patient outcomes and efficient care. The Network’s guidance on specialized rehabilitation for OHTs provides evidence-based patient profiles to help identify patients who require specialized rehabilitation and refer them appropriately.