Multidisciplinary Home-Based Rehabilitation Program for Individuals With Disabilities: Longitudinal Observational Study

Abstract

Background: Disability affects a significant portion of the global population nowadays, necessitating innovative approaches to access the rehabilitation processes. Home-based rehabilitation has emerged as a beneficial approach, offering comfort and context-specific therapy.Objective: This study aims to evaluate the impact of a multidisciplinary home-based rehabilitation program for individuals with moderate neuro-musculoskeletal disabilities in terms of motor function and mood.Methods: Participants (n=270, median age 66, IQR 20-98 years) were recruited from the National Disability Registry of Chile. The intervention involved a multidisciplinary team composed of 49 healthcare professionals, providing personalized treatment plans over four months (32 sessions for physical therapy, 8 sessions for occupational therapy, 4 sessions for nutrition, 8 sessions for psychology and 4 sessions for nursing and podiatry). This program also included two medical evaluations (at the beginning and the end) to monitor clinical progress in terms of motor function and mental health, using the Berg Balance Scale and Beck Depression Inventory, respectively. Results:The home-based rehabilitation program showed significant improvements (P<.05) in motor function and balance with a reduction in fall risk. Specifically, the Berg score decreased close to 15% after the home-based rehabilitation program for all enrolled participants. On the other hand, depression levels showed no significant changes (P=.267), with percentages of variation less than 8% between the two assessed conditions. In this sense, participants remained with the same mild depression level (14 of 63) concerning the Beck score.Conclusions: This study concludes that personalized home-based rehabilitation programs are effective in enhancing motor function and balance, particularly in individuals with neurological conditions. On the other hand, the findings in terms of mood advocate for further exploration of psychological support within such programs to enhance overall patient well-being. Clinical Trial: Ethical Committee of the Rehabilitation Center Club de Leones Cruz del Sur (Approval Code: CRCS_UID_010223)