Repatriation Community Programs, Part I: A collaborative model of service delivery

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Ontario Ministry of Health funded the Repatriation Community Programs pilot project in 1990.
• The project aims to repatriate brain-injured individuals from US facilities to Ontario.
• Focuses on 'hard to serve' patients, including those with severe behavioral issues or post-comatose unawareness.

Purpose of the Study:

• Demonstrate feasibility of community-based care for severely brain-injured individuals.
• Develop a service delivery and interagency collaboration model.
• Expedite province-wide implementation of similar programs.

Main Methods:

• Described the collaborative model developed over the first two years.
• Identified issues leading to the model's development.
• Discussed key elements of the collaborative model.

Main Results:

• Developed a collaborative model for community-based care.
• Addressed challenges in repatriating 'hard to serve' brain-injured individuals.
• Established a framework for interagency collaboration.

Conclusions:

• The pilot project demonstrated the feasibility of community-based care for repatriated brain-injured individuals.
• The developed model facilitates interagency collaboration for service delivery.
• The project provides a blueprint for province-wide implementation of repatriation programs.