Post-Acute Care

Lt Col Reynolds
When moderate to severe TBI patients are well enough, they progress to post-acute care, sometimes called transitional rehabilitation. Dr. Green, can you tell us more about post-acute care?

Dr. Green
Definitely, Dr. Reynolds. Post-acute care offers more intensive therapy than acute care and usually takes place in a residential rehabilitation facility. Treatment focuses on helping the patient regain as much independent functioning as possible. It involves relearning abilities and learning new ways to compensate for potentially long-term or permanent disability.

Some patients who are well enough to leave acute care but still have medical needs that require 24-hour-a-day skilled nursing care or rehabilitation may enter what’s called subacute rehabilitation, a less intense therapy program that lasts over a longer period of time. Subacute rehabilitation may take place in a skilled nursing facility or nursing home.