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"To be seen" - older adults and their relatives' care experiences given by a geriatric mobile team (GerMoT)

Ericsson, Iréne ; Ekdahl, Anne W LU orcid and Hellström, Ingrid (2021) In BMC Geriatrics 21. p.1-11
Abstract

BACKGROUND: The proportion of older people in the population has increased globally and has thus become a challenge in health and social care. There is good evidence that care based on comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is superior to the usual care found in acute hospital settings; however, the evidence is scarcer in community-dwelling older people. This study is a secondary outcome of a randomized controlled trial of community-dwelling older people in which the intervention group (IG) received CGA-based care by a geriatric mobile geriatric team (GerMoT). The aim of this study is to obtain a better understanding, from the patients' perspective, the experience of being a part of the IG for both the participants and their... (More)

BACKGROUND: The proportion of older people in the population has increased globally and has thus become a challenge in health and social care. There is good evidence that care based on comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is superior to the usual care found in acute hospital settings; however, the evidence is scarcer in community-dwelling older people. This study is a secondary outcome of a randomized controlled trial of community-dwelling older people in which the intervention group (IG) received CGA-based care by a geriatric mobile geriatric team (GerMoT). The aim of this study is to obtain a better understanding, from the patients' perspective, the experience of being a part of the IG for both the participants and their relatives.

METHODS: Qualitative semistructured interviews of twenty-two community dwelling participants and eleven of their relatives were conducted using content analysis for interpretation.

RESULTS: The main finding expressed by the participants and their relatives was in the form of feelings related to safety and security and being recognized. The participants found the care easily accessible, and that contacts could be taken according to needs by health care professionals who knew them. This is in accordance with person-centred care as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for older people in need of integrated care. Other positive aspects were recurrent health examinations and being given the time needed when seeking health care. Not all participants were positive as some found the information about the intervention to be unclear especially regarding whom to contact when in different situations.

CONCLUSIONS: CGA-based care of community-dwelling older people shows promising results as the participants in GerMoT found the care was giving a feeling of security and safety. They found the care easily accessible and that it was provided by health care professionals who knew them as a person and knew their health care problems. They found this to be in contrast to the usual care provided, but GerMoT care did not fulfill some people's expectations.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
BMC Geriatrics
volume
21
article number
636
pages
1 - 11
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85118743562
  • pmid:34742233
ISSN
1471-2318
DOI
10.1186/s12877-021-02587-y
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© 2021. The Author(s).
id
75fc71a4-ab43-4a0c-8f25-30d0826294c8
date added to LUP
2021-11-12 09:03:40
date last changed
2024-04-20 15:17:51
@article{75fc71a4-ab43-4a0c-8f25-30d0826294c8,
  abstract     = {{<p>BACKGROUND: The proportion of older people in the population has increased globally and has thus become a challenge in health and social care. There is good evidence that care based on comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is superior to the usual care found in acute hospital settings; however, the evidence is scarcer in community-dwelling older people. This study is a secondary outcome of a randomized controlled trial of community-dwelling older people in which the intervention group (IG) received CGA-based care by a geriatric mobile geriatric team (GerMoT). The aim of this study is to obtain a better understanding, from the patients' perspective, the experience of being a part of the IG for both the participants and their relatives.</p><p>METHODS: Qualitative semistructured interviews of twenty-two community dwelling participants and eleven of their relatives were conducted using content analysis for interpretation.</p><p>RESULTS: The main finding expressed by the participants and their relatives was in the form of feelings related to safety and security and being recognized. The participants found the care easily accessible, and that contacts could be taken according to needs by health care professionals who knew them. This is in accordance with person-centred care as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for older people in need of integrated care. Other positive aspects were recurrent health examinations and being given the time needed when seeking health care. Not all participants were positive as some found the information about the intervention to be unclear especially regarding whom to contact when in different situations.</p><p>CONCLUSIONS: CGA-based care of community-dwelling older people shows promising results as the participants in GerMoT found the care was giving a feeling of security and safety. They found the care easily accessible and that it was provided by health care professionals who knew them as a person and knew their health care problems. They found this to be in contrast to the usual care provided, but GerMoT care did not fulfill some people's expectations.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ericsson, Iréne and Ekdahl, Anne W and Hellström, Ingrid}},
  issn         = {{1471-2318}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--11}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Geriatrics}},
  title        = {{"To be seen" - older adults and their relatives' care experiences given by a geriatric mobile team (GerMoT)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02587-y}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12877-021-02587-y}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}