QCH extends “Get Moving” pilot program; shares results on how to help patients improve mobility and get home faster.
July 04, 2024
Ottawa, ON – Queensway Carleton Hospital today announced the extension of its Get Moving program—first launched as a pilot in November 2022—and shares the results of its first 18 months in operation, which highlight the benefits to patients and the healthcare system.
Get Moving is an innovative program that ensures more patients can return home faster, through early and frequent functional mobility training. It is one of only a few similar programs across the province.
The program is supported by an interdisciplinary team of Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, and Nurses, Rehabilitation Assistants, Patient Care Aides, and a Care Transition Coordinator.
The team provides personalized mobility training to high-risk patients on inpatient medicine or surgery units, encouraging them to move more and support earlier and more consistent functional mobility.
To understand the impact of the Get Moving program, QCH tracked each patient’s Functional Independence Measure (FIM) score upon arrival and at discharge. FIM captures a patient’s level of disability and need for assistance with activities of daily living – such as grooming, toileting, and functional mobility. On average, QCH has seen an improvement in all functional independence scores. The most significant improvement is in locomotion – a 3.4-point improvement on the seven-point scale.
Patients were also able to be discharged sooner – an average of 4.3 days per patient.
So far, the Get Moving team has helped over 1,200 patients and has made over 10,000 visits.
About Queensway Carleton Hospital
As the only acute care hospital in West Ottawa, Queensway Carleton Hospital provides quality care to half of the city’s population every year. QCH’s agility and collaborative culture enable it to respond quickly to the most pressing healthcare challenges facing its vibrant and growing communities through advanced programs that reinvent models of patient care. QCH has been named the #1 hospital in Ottawa by Newsweek magazine in 2021and as a top employer in Canada by Forbes magazine. QCH acknowledges it is located on the traditional and unceded lands of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation.
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Media Contact
Natasha Curley
Communications Officer
Queensway Carleton Hospital
ncurley@qch.on.ca