A cognitive-behavioral program to improve geriatric rehabilitation outcome.

A program of cognitive-behavioral interventions was applied on a hospital geriatric rehabilitation unit. Unique features were the tailoring of the program to the population and each participant, and the immediate application of the program with distressed patients in a proactive manner designed to maximize rehabilitation outcome. The program was successful in that initially distressed participants achieved rehabilitation goals to the same extent as the nondistressed comparison group, and participant scores on measures of distress and coping, except for anxiety, matched those of comparison patients at discharge.