Role of Rehabilitation in Ugandan Neurosurgical Transitional Care (2024-2025)
The project team set out to develop a culturally appropriate protocol for involving rehabilitation services in hospital discharge planning for neurologic patients in Uganda. Building on the work of previous teams, the 2024-2025 group revised and expanded the discharge planning protocol to address the needs of multiple providers and users following its pilot implementation. The team also sought to extend the protocol to incorporate a broader range of neurorehabilitation services, including occupational therapy, speech therapy and neuropsychology, while engaging stroke and brain injury support groups as community partners.
Over the past year, the team successfully laid the groundwork for three phases of data collection scheduled for summer 2025. Students prepared focus groups to gather feedback on the discharge planning tool previously introduced to partners in Uganda, completed planning for co-design of protocol updates with Ugandan healthcare experts, and developed usability testing procedures. Their work, which included practicing rapid analysis methods for timely results, positions the project to generate actionable insights that will guide the refinement of the discharge planning tool and support its adoption as a recommended practice by Ugandan stakeholders.
Timing
Summer 2024 – Summer 2025
Team Outputs
Appropriateness and Usability of a Discharge Planning Tool in Ugandan Neurosurgical Transitional Care ((Poster presentation at the Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 16, 2025)
See earlier related team Role of Physiotherapy in Ugandan Neurosurgical Transitional Care (2023-2024).
Image: Kampala, Uganda, by Carlos Felipe Pardo, licensed under CC BY 2.0