Early Mobility in the Hospital: Lessons Learned from the STRIDE Program

Susan Nicole Hastings; Ashley L Choate; Elizabeth P Mahanna; Theresa A Floegel; Kelli D Allen; Courtney H Van Houtven; Virginia Wang

doi:10.3390/geriatrics3040061

Early Mobility in the Hospital: Lessons Learned from the STRIDE Program

Geriatrics (Basel). 2018 Dec;3(4):61. doi: 10.3390/geriatrics3040061. Epub 2018 Sep 26.

Authors

Susan Nicole Hastings^{1

2

3

4}, Ashley L Choate¹, Elizabeth P Mahanna¹, Theresa A Floegel⁵, Kelli D Allen^{1

6}, Courtney H Van Houtven^{1

7}, Virginia Wang^{1

2

7}

Affiliations

¹ Center of Innovation for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA; ashley.choate@va.gov (A.L.C.); elizabeth.mahanna@va.gov (E.P.M.); kelli.allen@va.gov (K.D.A.); courtney.vanhoutven@va.gov (C.H.V.H.); virginia.wang@duke.edu (V.W.).
² Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
³ Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
⁴ Geriatrics Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC 27705, USA.
⁵ College of Nursing, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA; floegelt16@ecu.edu.
⁶ Department of Medicine & Thurston Arthritis Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
⁷ Duke Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27701, USA.

Abstract

Immobility during hospitalization is widely recognized as a contributor to deconditioning, functional loss, and increased need for institutional post-acute care. Several studies have demonstrated that inpatient walking programs can mitigate some of these negative outcomes, yet hospital mobility programs are not widely available in U.S. hospitals. STRIDE (assiSTed eaRly mobIlity for hospitalizeD older vEterans) is a supervised walking program for hospitalized older adults that fills this important gap in clinical care. This paper describes how STRIDE works and how it is being disseminated to other hospitals using the Replicating Effective Programs (REP) framework. Guided by REP, we define core components of the program and areas where the program can be tailored to better fit the needs and local conditions of its new context (hospital). We describe key adaptations made by four hospitals who have implemented the STRIDE program and discuss lessons learned for successful implementation of hospital mobility programs.

Keywords: hospitalization; implementation; mobility; older adults.

Abstract

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