Impact on Patients' Functional Independence Due to a Rehabilitation Counseling Psychology Interprofessional Treatment Component.

Medically debilitated patients treated in inpatient medical rehabilitation facilities, compared with those who do not receive these services, have better overall outcomes following hospital stays. A common way patients' level of independence is assessed is by measuring and tracking Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores. Utilizing FIM scores, this retrospective cohort study examines the impact on patients' functional independence when a rehabilitation counseling psychologist introduced an interprofessional component. This collaborative component included psychotherapeutic interventions with both the patient and the family systems as needed, and providing in-services, coaching, and consultations to staff. It also included attending team and family conferences and co-treating interprofessionally across disciplines in the therapy gymnasium. To assess whether the added component made a difference, outcome reports of 1,818 discharges from the inpatient unit were analyzed. Data included the year prior to implementation of the consulting psychology interprofessional component and data from 2 years following its implementation. T tests were run to assess for differences in FIM scores. FIM scores following the implementation of the interprofessional component were higher than scores prior to the implementation of the variable. Findings suggest a positive correlation between integrating an interprofessional rehabilitation counseling psychology component into the rehabilitation process and increasing patients' functional independence.