Focused Intensive Repeated Stepping During Inpatient Rehabilitation Poststroke - A Quality Improvement Project

The purpose of this quality improvement project was first to monitor usual physical therapy care (types \& cardiovascular intensity of interventions and amount of stepping practice provided) and outcomes. Following which educational training and support was provided to treating physical therapists to encourage implementation of evidence-based practices. Specifically, therapists were encouraged to prioritize the practice of walking, particularly at higher cardiovascular intensities during scheduled therapy sessions. Fidelity metrics in the form of chart audits and pedometer-based step counts were utilized to determine compliance with the evidence-based intervention and ultimately investigated for potential effects on patient outcome measures.