Reducing anxiety and hospital readmission in the early weeks following discharge from inpatient rehabilitation: the new community enhanced rehabilitation team

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess if the new community-enhanced rehabilitation team reduced anxiety and readmissions in service users discharged from an inpatient rehabilitation setting. Design/methodology/approach The study used both qualitative and quantitative methodology. Service user’s anxiety level was measured before being discharged and at the end of the Community Enhanced Rehabilitation Team (CERT) transition intervention. Six service users were interviewed to gain further understanding of their experiences of anxiety. Findings Findings showed the anxiety score was significantly lower (M = 1.5, 95% CI [0.051,2.99], t(20) = 2.159, p = 0.043) following the CERT intervention (M = 8.6, SD = 6.4) compared to before (M = 10.1, SD = 7.0). No service user receiving the CERT intervention was readmitted to hospital within 12 weeks of discharge from the inpatient setting, compared to three service users (15% of those discharged) who were discharged to other community services. Research limitations/implications Community rehabilitation pathways would benefit from having interventions to aid patient transitions from inpatient to the community. The National Health Service (NHS) trusts develop community rehabilitation teams as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and they should consider including transitional support as part of their model. Practical implications It is recommended that as NHS trusts design and implement community mental health teams, they should consider including transition support as part of their model. Social implications People with severe and enduring mental health difficulties who have been in an inpatient rehabilitation setting would benefit from community transitional support. This study suggests that such support helps reduce anxiety and readmission. Originality/value Community rehabilitation teams are currently being developed across the NHS as part of the NHS long-term plan. These teams are new, and as such, there is a dearth of information regarding their effectiveness. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to evaluate outcomes in these new teams.