What is CORE?
Welcome to Craig Hospital! We look forward to working with you and getting to know you.
The CORE (Craig Overview of Rehabilitation Elements) curriculum provides a general roadmap for what you will be experiencing and learning during your stay at Craig Hospital. The CORE curriculum will help give you a sense for what to expect while you are here and how we will work alongside you to plan and prepare for life after Craig.
Inpatient Timeline
Click on the image below to see the timeline full-size.
 | Pre-Admission: A Craig Hospital clinical liaison will spend time with the patient and their family/caregiver to assess appropriateness for Craig’s rehabilitation program. |
|---|---|
| Admission: If Craig’s program is the right fit, the patient will be admitted. | |
| Inpatient: Craig’s inpatient program is guided by the CORE model of care. The patient’s and caregiver’s skills training within each element will depend on injury type and specific goals developed with their care team. | |
| Graduation: The care team will work with the patient and their family/caregiver toward achieving specific goals that will help fulfill the pre-admission through discharge care plan. | |
| Life After Inpatient: Life after inpatient rehabilitation will look different for everyone. All care teams at Craig work with the patient and their family/caregiver to develop a plan for returning into the community and continuing therapies as needed. |
CORE Elements
During your stay at Craig, you will learn about your injury and set goals for discharge listed on the CORE wheel below. Click on each section of the wheel to learn more about that topic, or scroll down to read it all.
Medical Stability Overview
Care team leads: Physician, Medical Practitioner
Learning about your injury
- Changes to your body after injury
- Prognosis of injury
Potential complications after injury and management of complications
- Work with the medical team to monitor and stabilize body systems
- Understand how to manage medical needs
- Understand potential complications from injury that may happen when you return home
Emotional & Behavioral Well-Being Overview
Care team leads: Psychology, Spiritual Care Services
Adjustment to life after injury
- Process emotional difficulties related to injury and physical/mental limitations
- Include personal history, pre-existing behavioral difficulties, spiritual values, family dynamics and goals into the rehabilitation process
- Adjust to lifestyle and identity changes
- Explore family dynamics and changes in family roles
- Use psychological strategies to address pain and sleep difficulties
- Enhance quality of life after rehabilitation based on your values
Behavioral management
- Learn about brain and behavior relationships
- Understand and address individual behavioral changes
- Learn strategies to increase appropriate behaviors and decrease challenging behaviors
Medications Overview
Care team leads: Pharmacy, Nursing, Nutrition
Managing medications
- Learn about brand and generic names, dosage form (tablet or capsules), and what everything means on prescription vials
- Learn what your medications are for (indication), how much to take (dose), how to take (route), how long to take (duration)
- Be able to fill a pill box and organize medications
- Correct medication storage
- What to do if a dose is missed
- Importance of honest communication about your medications with healthcare providers
- Establish refill plan and know what to do if something is wrong with your prescription
Understanding drug interactions
- Side effects: how to manage them and if, when, and how to stop or not stop taking your medications
- How your medication(s) work with other drugs (including all over-the-counter medications, vitamins, herbs, alcohol and/or street drugs)
Living with your injury
- Importance of having a primary pharmacy
- Insurance and your medications
- Vaccinations
Bowel & Bladder Management Overview
Care team leads: Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Nutrition
Changes to system after injury
- How your injury changes your bowels and bladder
Performing and maintaining a healthy bowel and bladder program
- Types of bowel and bladder management
- Medications used for bowel and bladder management
- Timing of bowel and bladder management
- How to use bowel and bladder equipment
- How to perform bowel and bladder management, including caregiver training
Long-term bowel and bladder care
- How nutrition and fluid intake affect bowel and bladder
- Preventing complications with bowel and bladder
- How to manage bowel and bladder needs outside of home
- How to problem solve accidents
Breathing & Swallowing Overview
Care team leads: Respiratory Therapy, Medical Practitioner, Speech Therapy
Changes after injury
- Understand how breathing, swallowing and speaking are different
- Know signs of respiratory infection and when/how to find medical care
- How to swallow and/or speak with a tube for breathing (tracheostomy tube) or breathing machine (ventilator)
Understanding, managing and maintaining respiratory equipment
- Ventilator
- Tracheostomy care
- Airway clearance
Living with your injury
- Understand long-term effects of injury on breathing and swallowing systems
- Lung and airway health
- Address challenges with breathing during sleep
- CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) education
Functional Mobility Overview
Care team leads: Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Nursing
Bed mobility
- Safely perform and/or direct all bed mobility skills including:
- Rolling and turning
- Moving between sitting and lying on back
- Scooting and leg management
- Padding/positioning
Transfers
- Safely perform and/or direct transfers to and from:
- Wheelchair, bed and bathroom equipment
- Floor, vehicle, airline and any other relevant surface
- Reposition body after transfers for skin protection
Household and community mobility
- Propel/drive wheelchair and/or ambulate over various surfaces and terrain with appropriate devices
- Perform and/or direct positioning and timely weight shifts for skin protection
- Learn how to safely perform all prescribed exercises including:
- Stretching (range of motion)
- Strength
- Balance
Equipment
- Participate in the evaluation, prescription, fitting and management of all necessary durable medical equipment
- Participate in home modifications meeting
Self-Care Overview
Care team leads: Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Therapeutic Recreation, Nutrition
Activities of daily living
- Safely perform and/or direct the following daily care skills using appropriate equipment:
- Grooming
- Feeding
- Bathing – including safe transfers
- Toileting – including safe transfers
- Dressing
- Building healthy daily habits/routines
- Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs): cooking, homemaking, returning to child care, community integration, etc.
Sleep hygiene
- Building healthy sleep habits and regulating sleep wake cycles with help from medical team
Skin awareness and protection
- Positioning
- Hygiene
- Nutrition
- Equipment
Meal management
- Rehabilitation and use of compensatory strategies for safe and effective swallowing
- Ensure proper supplies for continued nutrition needs
- Understand nutrition-related needs for recovery and healthy living
Sex and fertility
- Feel empowered to share concerns and questions about sexuality/intimacy/fertility with your care team
Hobbies and interests
- Reengage and/or explore options for participation in recreation and leisure
Communication & Learning Overview
Care team leads: Speech Therapy, Psychology
Directing care and asking for help
- Get help for basic care needs (wants and needs, pain, food, etc.)
- Direct others how to help complete daily routines (how to transfer, how to use equipment, etc.)
- Tell others information (medical history, current status, personal/family history, business affairs, goals, etc.)
- Participate in conversations about care (discharge plan, legal, financial and medical)
- Understand information presented (verbal and written)
Communicating in social situations and relationships
- Use communication for social closeness (i.e., build/maintain friendships, storytelling, etc.)
- Use communication to express manners (i.e., please, thank you, see you later, have a good day, etc.)
Learning and remembering information
- Learn strategies to help communication with others
- Use tools to help learn and remember new information
- Learn and understand information about injury
Caregiver/Family Training Overview
Active involvement in the rehab process
- One to two family members/caregivers are required during your rehab stay to master necessary skills for safe home discharge
Participation in skills training
- Required participation in skills training
- Master the necessary skills to successfully achieve preadmission care plan for discharge
Confidence in performing skills beyond the rehab setting
- Apply skills learned during rehab in various settings
- Independent living trial to practice learned skills as a care unit (patient plus caregivers/family members) without Craig staff
Plan for Discharge Overview
Care team leads: Clinical Care Management
Education on insurance benefits
- Learn insurance benefits for inpatient rehabilitation including: outpatient rehabilitation, home health benefit, skilled facility benefit, durable medical equipment and medical supplies
Resource coordination for support throughout recovery
- Get help coordinating benefits including FMLA paperwork, Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, and COBRA enrollment
- Complete application for Social Security Disability Income, Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, Long-Term Medicaid and Medicaid waivers
- Psychosocial needs addressed and coordinated (i.e., transportation, accessible housing, community engagement, financial support, mental health resources and crisis support)
Care coordination for successful discharge from inpatient rehabilitation
- Train with care team to enable a successful transition from the inpatient setting
- Work alongside care team to decide safe discharge location and identify care coordination needed to successfully transition to home or the next level of care
- Coordinated care plan that meets ongoing medical needs
CORE (Resumen de Elementos de Rehabilitación de Craig) es una visión general de los objetivos centrales de atención interdisciplinaria de nuestro programa de hospitalización. Su equipo de atención trabajará con usted en cada uno de estos elementos para ayudar a prepararlos a usted y a su familia para la vida después de Craig. Los elementos incluidos les proporcionarán una hoja de ruta general de lo que experimentará y aprenderá para darles una idea de lo que pueden esperar mientras esté aquí.