Re@home - Evaluation of home rehabilitation for older people

Home rehabilitation for older people is widely implemented, but research on the content and the effectiveness of the rehabilitation interventions used in practice are scarce and we lack knowledge of how home-rehabilitation units collaborate with social- and health care services. The design is based on the realist evaluation method, where a defined program theory is used as a base for the evaluation. The main characteristic is to identify context, mechanism and outcomes of the target process. The project is conducted in Stockholm, Jönköping and Luleå to reflect different parts of the country in relation to size and care organisations.

In phase 1, a program theory is currently being established through systematic searches of scientific and grey literature; extracting data, analyzes and synthesizing have been conducted and discussed during workshops. In phase 2, the context and mechanisms of impact is explored at home-rehabilitation units at the three sites, through observations of interaction between staff and patients, patient record auditing, and focus groups and interviews. In phase 3, the effectiveness of home rehabilitation will be evaluated by patient record auditing, register data, questionnaires and interviews and will be analyzed in relation to the described program theory.

An overarching analysis of what, for whom and under which circumstances that home rehabilitation leads to change will be conducted with data from all three phases using mixed methods. The results of identified mechanisms and relevant context factors will be related to the outcomes of effectiveness to identify outcome patterns

Principal Investigator