Exploring aftercare programs following outpatient musculoskeletal physical therapy: a case series report

Aftercare programs allow patients to continue to exercise with supervision following discharge from physical therapy. Although not yet widespread in clinical practice, aftercare programs represent a growing trend following outpatient physical therapy settings in the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the characteristics, implementation, and impact of contemporary aftercare programs in a selected sample of outpatient physical therapy settings. A purposeful sample of three aftercare program and four clients were interviewed to provide the descriptive data for this study. Each client was also later interviewed at 3-4 months and again at 6 months. A general health outcomes measurement tool (SF-36) and musculoskeletal regional outcomes tools also were used to measure health status and function. Directors of the three programs cited similar rationales for starting their aftercare programs. However, specific features and goals of the three aftercare programs varied, as did utilization and participation. Clients were generally pleased with their aftercare involvement, and they demonstrated clinically important improvements on outcome measures of function and health-related quality of life in addition to subjective reports of satisfaction. Aftercare programs are an emerging clinical trend following physical therapy, and this study provides an initial description of the development, implementation, and effectiveness of such programs. Future study should investigate a greater variety of aftercare settings and larger samples of participants and should also further examine how well aftercare programs promote health and wellness.