A Supervised Walking Program for Inpatients Prevents Some Discharges to Skilled Nursing Facilities

Supervised walking programs improve mobility of hospitalized patients in research studies, but whether the benefits translate to real-world settings is unknown. Researchers assigned eight U.S. Veterans Affairs hospitals to implement a supervised walking program during 3 months. Eligible patients (i.e., community-dwelling; age, >60; hospitalized for ≥2 days) were referred to the program at the treating team's discretion. The program — an initial gait assessment followed by daily supervised walks for the duration of hospitalization — used existing hospital personnel. Outcomes among eligible patients were compared before and after implementation of the program at each hospital.

In total, 13,000 eligible patients (mean age, 73; >95% male) were h…