La gestión de casos: haciendo camino

Components of case management in caring for patients with dementia: a mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND

Case management has shown improvements in some health outcomes for dementia patients and their families. However, despite its benefits the components of case management in order to provide effective patient and family care remain unknown at present. Thus, the aim of this study is to identify the specific components of case management in caring for patients with dementia and to determine the necessary intensity of its deployment to enhance outcomes for these patients and their caregivers.

METHODS

Mixed-methods study with a qualitative phase to characterise forms of service provision, according to the case management components involved, followed by a quantitative phase to analyse the correlations between different patterns of service provision, adverse events in patients and caregiver overload. This study will be based on the variables described in the RANGE.COM register.

DISCUSSION

This research is expected to achieve a reproducible, evaluable set of interventions that can be modelled to optimise case management effectiveness for patients with dementia. Interactions between patients with dementia, their family caregivers and case management healthcare services, the components of these interactions and their association with the conditions of the individuals concerned are issues of great interest in the field of case management, which is constantly evolving.

Early detection of anaemia in primary care with haemoglobinometry: ANHEMOG clinical trial protocol

Abstract

Background

Detecting, treating and monitoring anaemia has a functional, social and economic impact on patients’ quality of life and the health system, since inadequate monitoring can lead to more accident & emergency visits and hospitalizations. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact in the patient clinical outcomes of using haemoglobinometry to early detect anaemia in patients with chronic anaemia in primary care.

Methods

Randomized controlled trial Capillary haemoglobin will be measured using a haemoglobinometer on a monthly basis in the intervention group. In the control group, the protocol currently in force at the primary care centre will be followed and venous haemoglobin will be measured. Any cases of anaemia detected in either group will be referred to the transfusion circuit of the reference hospital.

Discusion

The results will shed light on the impact of the intervention on the volume of hospitalizations and accident & emergency (A&E) visits due to anaemia, as well as patients’ quality of life. Chronic and repeated bouts of anaemia are detected late, thus leading to decompensation in chronic diseases and, in turn, more A&E visits and hospitalizations. The intervention should improve these outcomes since treatment could be performed without delay. Improving response times would decrease decompensation in chronic diseases, as well as A&E visits and hospitalizations, and improve quality of life. The primary care nurse case manager will perform the intervention, which should improve existing fragmentation between different care levels.

Trial registration

NCT04757909. Registered 17 February 2021. Retrospectively registered.

Profile and results of frail patient assessed by advanced practice nursing in an Emergency Department

OBJECTIVES

To describe the profile of patients evaluated by Nurse Care Management in an Emergency Department and identify the type of alternative healthcare resource assigned and report the results of clinical practice.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Prospective follow-up, on admission to the Emergency Department in an acute hospital and on discharge from the alternative healthcare resource, of patients assessed by Nurse Care Management, from July to December 2015. The patient characteristics, social environment and results of clinical practice were studied.

RESULTS

190 patients were included of whom 13 were readmitted (6.8%). 122 (59.8%) cases from the Emergency Department were referred to to intermediate care facilities, 71 (34.8%) cases for domiciliary care, 10 (4.9%) cases were referred to an acute care hospital and 1 (0.5%) died. Patients referred to intermediate care were more complex, presented geriatric syndromes as their reason for admission and diagnosed with dementia, while those referred to home care presented more respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses (p <0.05). The mean Barthel Index and polypharmacy before emergency admission were higher than at the time of discharge from the alternative healthcare resource (p <0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients presenting with advanced age, complexity, comorbidity, are referred to intermediate care facilities or domiciliary care, they are admitted to acute care hospitasl and are readmitted less than other patients. After being discharged from the alternative resource, they lose functional capacity and present less polypharmacy.

[A social-health care coordination reference in the fields of mental health and child abuse]

The intervention in families with children at risk of abuse stays as a clear example of the need for intersectional coordination mechanisms within the socio-health care framework. Different health services (such as primary care, paediatrics, mental health, community and social services, family support teams and schools) create a network in order to link their main goals in the interest of ensuring children's welfare and improving familieś situation. This essay aims at describing a performance based on the mentioned guidelines, even though there is no accepted and widespread protocol in this regard. We start our research with a one parent family with two children. The mother suffers from a mental health disorder and she fails to adhere to treatment. Both the father of the two children and his family took advantage of this situation to discredit the mother's capability of taking care of her children. This perception had a great impact in her self-esteem and therefore in her willingness and strength to recover. Meetings were held to share relevant information about both the family's general situation, the children's quality of life and the mother's health. Based on this information, the main goals were set in each professional field in order to develop the intervention project. This example of intersectional coordination shows the importance of its standardization for the sake of ensuring a comprehensive attention towards situations that involve initially individuals but that ends up affecting the whole family.

[Continuity of care from the acute care hospital: Results]

OBJECTIVE

To describe the profile of patients treated by a Continuity of Care Manager in an acute-care center during the first six months of its activity, as well as the profile of patients treated and the resource allocation.

METHOD

A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with complex care needs requiring continuity of care liaison, and who were attended by the Continuity of Care Nurse during the period from October 2013 to March 2014. Patient characteristics, their social environment and healthcare resource allocation were registered and analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 1,034 cases of demand that corresponded to 907 patients (women 55.0%; age 80.57±10.1; chronic 47.8%) were analyzed, of whom 12.2% were readmitted. In the multivariate model, it was observed that the variables associated with readmission were polypharmacy (OR: 1.86; CI: 1.2-2.9) and fall history prior to admission (OR: 0.586; CI: 0.36-2-88).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients treated by a Continuity of Care Nurse are over 80 years, with comorbidities, geriatric syndromes, complex care, and of life needs, to whom an alternative solution to hospitalization is provided, thus preventing readmissions.