Implementing Practices for Full Therapy Participation for Patients With Candida auris in an Inpatient Rehabilitation Setting.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of a dedicated rehabilitation gym space for patients with Candida auris (C. auris) requiring contact isolation in an inpatient rehabilitation setting. This initiative had an aim of improving access to the therapy gym while maintaining infection prevention protocols for patients with C. auris.

METHODS

Through collaboration with hospital leadership and public health authorities, a secondary gym space was identified and converted exclusively for patients with C. auris. Data collected over 14 months included patients' functional outcomes and infection transmission rates.

RESULTS

Twenty-five patients with C. auris were admitted to the rehabilitation facility between December 2022 and March 2024; 18 received in-room therapy, and seven received therapy in the dedicated gym. A greater proportion of patients using the dedicated gym achieved mobility improvement goals (57.1%) compared with those who received therapy in-room (35.7%). Self-care and mobility score improvement scores for the two groups were not statistically significant. There were no instances of in-facility transmission of C. auris.

CONCLUSIONS

Rehabilitation health care workers can safely support functional progress in contact-isolated patients by using dedicated therapy spaces, maintaining infection control, and optimizing patients' functional outcomes. Although we had a small sample , findings suggest that mobility outcomes may improve when C. auris patients have access to a dedicated gym. Further monitoring is needed to assess long-term impact.