Centre for Rehabilitation Research & Development

Program Evaluation

The Centre for Rehabilitation Research and Development frequently assists clinicians in evaluating clinical and educational programs at The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre (TOHRC). Program evaluation supports our facility’s mandate to provide patient-centred care by ensuring that patients are receiving the best possible care and education.

One of our most recent initiatives involves patients in our Respiratory Program:

About one in five Canadians have breathing difficulties and a significant subset of these people have a chronic respiratory illness. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death in Canada, the sixth leading cause of years lived with disability and among the most frequent reason for emergency visits and hospitalization each year. Reducing hospital re-admissions in this patient population is an important goal for health-care providers. Patients who receive respiratory rehabilitation after an admission have been shown to have fewer subsequent readmissions. Patient education is a major component of rehabilitation.

The Respiratory Team at TOHRC developed a standardized Education Series to present to small groups of all respiratory rehabilitation patients. This Education Series was implemented in 2011 and an evaluation was initiated in 2012. Patients completed a set of questionnaires at three time points: pre-, post- and three months following the series. The evaluation will help determine whether patients have changes in their quality of life, knowledge of their disease and self-efficacy in managing or living with their disease following the Education Series.