Fall Risk and Functional Impairments: Using Standardized Tests to Guide Treatment

• •Examine barriers with using standardized tests and how to avoid them


• •Demonstrate evidence based tests that are applicable in the acute care setting


• •Compose appropriate documentation with quantifiable, objective measures


• •Determine how standardized tests can be used in the ICU and with other medically complex patients


• •Discover how using standardized testing can guide discharge planning and reduce the risk of 30 day readmissions

Therapists have an increasingly complex role in discharge planning from acute care as hospital stays become shorter and 30 day readmission rates are more closely scrutinized. It is imperative that acute care therapists not only identify, but also be able to quantify functional impairments and fall risk. Standardized testing in hospitals is complicated by the frailty of the patient population, management of multiple lines and medical issues, as well as time constraints.

This course is designed to help therapists by giving a familiarity with the variety of tests to choose from, and to assist them in making sense of the tests' outcomes. Attendees will learn and practice tests that can be used on patients with high level of mobility, as well as those tests that are appropriate for the ICU. During this lab–intensive course, you will be introduced to an array of objective measures can be used to enhance assessments and documentation, to guide treatment, and aide in discharge planning.