Preventive Home Visits Among Frail Community-Dwelling Older Adults. The Added Value of Follow-Up Telephone Calls

People in need of care and support do not always find appropriate services. This paper aims to explore the content and added value of monthly follow-up telephone calls after preventive home visits. We used both monitoring data and qualitative semi-structured interviews (with older adults, formal and informal caregivers). Results indicate that a majority of older adults (N = 95) received a regular follow-up of four telephone calls. Social connection and involvement were mentioned by all three groups as positive aspects of the program. Although time-consuming, this paper draws attention to the added value of follow-up telephone calls after preventive home visits.

Transitional care decision-making through the eyes of older people and informal caregivers: An in-depth interview-based study

BACKGROUND

Older people with multifaceted care needs often require treatment and complex care across different settings. However, transitional care is often inadequately managed, and older people and their informal caregivers are not always sufficiently heard and/or supported in transitional care decision-making.

OBJECTIVE

To explore older people's and informal caregivers' experiences with, views on, and needs concerning empowerment in transitional care decision-making.

METHODS

A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in the TRANS-SENIOR consortium's collaborative research using semistructured in-depth interviews between October 2020 and June 2021 in Flanders, Belgium. A total of 29 people were interviewed, including 14 older people and 15 informal caregivers who faced a transition from home to another care setting or vice versa. Data were analysed according to the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven.

FINDINGS

Five themes were identified in relation to the participant's experiences, views and needs: involvement in the decision-making process; informal caregivers' burden of responsibility; the importance of information and support; reflections on the decision and influencing factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, older people and informal caregivers wished to be more seen, recognised, informed and proactively supported in transitional care decision-making. However, their preferences for greater involvement in decision-making vary and are affected by several factors that are both intrinsic and extrinsic. Therefore, healthcare systems might seek out age-tuned and person-centred empowerment approaches focusing on older people's and informal caregivers' empowerment. For future studies, we recommend developing specific strategies for such empowerment.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

Older persons' representatives were involved in designing the TRANS-SENIOR programme of research, including the current study. Healthcare professionals and nursing care directors were involved in the study design and the selection and recruitment of participants.

A search for relevant contextual factors in intervention studies: a stepwise approach with online information

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study is to describe a stepwise approach to study which contextual factors might moderate the effect of healthcare interventions and to test feasibility of this approach within the D-SCOPE project.

DESIGN

Exploratory case study.

SETTING

In the D-SCOPE project, a complex intervention by means of home visits was set up to improve access to tailored care in three municipalities (Ghent, Knokke-Heist and Tienen).

METHODS

One designed and tested an approach including five steps: (1) a theoretical/conceptual discussion of relevant contextual factor domains was held; (2) a search was done to find appropriate web-based public datasets which covered these topics with standardised information; (3) a list of all identified contextual factors was made (inventory); (4) to reduce the long list of contextual factors, a concise list of most relevant contextual factors was developed based on the opinion of two independent reviewers and (5) a nominal grouping technique (NGT) was applied.

RESULTS

Three public web-based datasets were found resulting in an inventory of 157 contextual factors. After the selection by two independent reviewers, 41 contextual factors were left over and presented in a NGT which selected 10 contextual factors. The NGT included seven researchers, all familiar with the D-SCOPE intervention, with various educational backgrounds and expertise and lasted approximately 1 hour.

CONCLUSION

The present study shows that a five-step approach is feasible to determine relevant contextual factors that might affect the results of an intervention study. Such information may be used to correct for in the statistical analyses and for interpretation of the outcomes of intervention studies.NCT03168204.

The relation between age of retirement and frailty in later life? A cross-sectional study in Flemish older adults

BACKGROUND

Policymakers in several European countries, concerned about the sustainability of their pension system, have raised the statutory retirement age. While several studies investigated the effect of retirement on health, the relationship between retirement and frailty is neglected. Notwithstanding, frailty is associated with adverse outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between age of retirement and frailty in later life.

METHODS

Data of the Belgian Ageing Studies, a cross-sectional research project was used. The present study includes N=12659 participants (>60y) in 83 Flemish municipalities. To address reverse causality, only participants not retired because of health-related reasons were included. The Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument, a multidimensional frailty scale with four domains (physical, psychological, social and environmental) was used to operationalize frailty. Univariate general linear regression analyses (GLM) were performed for scores on the total frailty scale and the four subdomains separately. The analysis was done for men and women separately, since both groups have different labor trajectories.

RESULTS

The present study found a negative association between age of retirement and physical frailty for both men and women in later life, and total frailty for men, although the differences were small. No evidence was found for a relation between age of retirement and the other subdomains of frailty.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that age of retirement is not a clinically relevant predictor for frailty in later life. Differences within and between subpopulations (e.g., profession) can shed a new light on this relation.

Relational aspects of mastery for frail, older adults: The role of informal caregivers in the care process

Frail, older care recipients are often thought of as individuals with a decreased mastery of everyday life skills. Various authors have proposed to acknowledge a relational dimension of mastery, defined as the ability to maintain control over one's life with the help of others. This study explores how frail, older adults experience relational aspects of mastery and the role of their informal caregivers in maintaining these aspects of mastery over the care process. Qualitative interviews (N = 121) were conducted in 2016 with potentially frail, community-dwelling older adults participating in the Detection, Support and Care for Older people: Prevention and Empowerment (D-SCOPE) project. A secondary analysis of 65 interviews reveals that, according to frail, older adults, informal caregivers contribute in various ways to the preservation of their mastery. This differs across the four elements of care: caring about (attentiveness), taking care of (responsibility), care-giving (competence), and care-receiving (responsiveness). However, in some cases, older adults experienced a loss of mastery; for example, when informal caregivers did not understand their care needs and did not involve them in the decision, organisation, and provision of care. A relational dimension of mastery needs to be acknowledged in frail, older care recipients since stimulating mastery is a crucial element for realising community care objectives and person-centred and integrated care.

Interventions for frail community-dwelling older adults have no significant effect on adverse outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

According to some studies, interventions can prevent or delay frailty, but their effect in preventing adverse outcomes in frail community-dwelling older people is unclear. The aim is to investigate the effect of an intervention on adverse outcomes in frail older adults.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis of Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Social Sciences Citation Index. Randomized controlled studies that aimed to treat frail community-dwelling older adults, were included. The outcomes were mortality, hospitalization, formal health costs, accidental falls, and institutionalization. Several sub-analyses were performed (duration of intervention, average age, dimension, recruitment).

RESULTS

Twenty-five articles (16 original studies) were included. Six types of interventions were found. The pooled odds ratios (OR) for mortality when allocated in the experimental group were 0.99 [95% CI: 0.79, 1.25] for case management and 0.78 [95% CI: 0.41, 1.45] for provision information intervention. For institutionalization, the pooled OR with case management was 0.92 [95% CI: 0.63, 1.32], and the pooled OR for information provision intervention was 1.53 [95% CI: 0.64, 3.65]. The pooled OR for hospitalization when allocated in the experimental group was 1.13 [95% CI: 0.95, 1.35] for case management. Further sub-analyses did not yield any significant findings.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review and meta-analysis does not provide sufficient scientific evidence that interventions by frail older adults can be protective against the included adverse outcomes. A sub-analysis for some variables yielded no significant effects, although some findings suggested a decrease in adverse outcomes.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Prospero registration CRD42016035429 .

Randomized controlled trial to evaluate a prevention program for frail community-dwelling older adults: a D-SCOPE protocol

BACKGROUND

Frail community-dwelling older adults, whom might experience problems regarding physical, cognitive, psychological, social and environmental factors, are at risk for adverse outcomes such as disability, institutionalization and mortality. People in need of help do not always find their way to care and support services and are left undetected. The aim of the D-SCOPE project is to detect frail community-dwelling older adults who previously went unnoticed and to improve their access to care and support. Goal is to increase their frailty-balance, quality of life, meaning in life, life satisfaction, mastery, community inclusion and ageing well in place.

METHODS/DESIGN

The study is a prospective, longitudinal randomized four-armed controlled trial with follow-up at 6 months. The study group aims to include 900 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years and over from 3 municipalities in Flanders (Belgium). While selecting the study group, risk profiles for frailty will be taken into account. Participants will be randomly selected from the census records in each municipality. Data will be collected prospectively at baseline (T0) and at follow-up, 6 months after baseline (T1). At baseline, participants who are at least mild frail on one of the 5 domains of frailty (CFAI-plus) or feel frail based on the subjective assessment of frailty will be randomly assigned to (1) the study group or (2) the control group. A mixed method design with the inclusion of quantitative and qualitative data analyses will be used to evaluate the efficacy and experiences of the detection and prevention program on frailty.

DISCUSSION

The study will contribute to an innovative vision concerning the organization of care and support, and a timely and accurate detection and support of community-dwelling older adults at risk for frailty.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, on May 26, 2017, identifier: NCT03168204 .

Frailty differences in older adults' use of informal and formal care

OBJECTIVES

This study examines different combinations of informal and formal care use of older adults and investigates whether these combinations differ in terms of need for care (physical and psychological frailty) and enabling factors for informal and formal care use (social and environmental frailty).

METHODS

Using cross-sectional data from the Belgian Ageing Studies (survey, N = 38,066 community-dwelling older adults), Latent Class Analysis (LCA) is used to identify combinations of informal and formal care use. Bivariate analyses are used to explore the relationship between the different combinations of care use and frailty.

RESULTS

Latent Class Analysis (LCA) identified 8 different types of care use, which vary in combinations of informal and formal caregivers. Older adults who are more likely to combine care from family and care from all types of formal caregivers are more physically, psychologically and environmentally frail than expected. Older adults who are more likely to receive care only from nuclear family, or only from formal caregivers are more socially frail than expected.

CONCLUSIONS

Older adults with a higher need for care are more likely to receive care from different types of informal and formal caregivers. High environmental frailty and low social frailty are related with the use of care from different types of informal and formal caregivers. This study confirms that informal care can act as substitute for formal care. However, this substitute relationship becomes a complementary relationship in frail older adults. Policymakers should take into account that frailty in older adults affects the use of informal and formal care.

Detecting frail, older adults and identifying their strengths: results of a mixed-methods study

Background

The debate on frailty in later life focuses primarily on deficits and their associations with adverse (health) outcomes. In addition to deficits, it may also be important to consider the abilities and resources of older adults. This study was designed to gain insights into the lived experiences of frailty among older adults to determine which strengths can balance the deficits that affect frailty.

Methods

Data from 121 potentially frail community-dwelling older adults in Flemish-speaking Region of Belgium and Brussels were collected using a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected using the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument (CFAI), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and numeric rating scales (NRS) for quality of life (QoL), care and support, meaning in life, and mastery. Bivariate analyses, paired samples t-tests and means were performed. Qualitative data on experiences of frailty, frailty balance, QoL, care and support, meaning in life, and mastery were collected using semi-structured interviews. Interviews were subjected to thematic content analysis.

Results

The “no to mild frailty” group had higher QoL, care and support, meaning in life, and mastery scores than the “severe frailty” group. Nevertheless, qualitative results indicate that, despite being classified as frail, many older adults experienced high levels of QoL, care and support, meaning in life, and mastery. Respondents mentioned multiple balancing factors for frailty, comprising individual-level circumstances (e.g., personality traits, coping strategies, resilience), environmental influences (e.g., caregivers, neighborhood, social participation), and macro-level features (e.g., health literacy, adequate financial compensation). Respondents also highlighted that life changes affected their frailty balance, including changes in health, finances, personal relationships, and living situation.

Conclusion

The findings indicate that frailty among older individuals can be considered as a dynamic state and, regardless of frailty, balancing factors are important in maintaining a good QoL. The study investigated not only the deficits, but also the abilities, and resources of frail, older adults. Public policymakers and healthcare organizations are encouraged to include these abilities, supplementary or even complementary to the usual focus on deficits.

[Detection and prevention in later life: risk profiles for physical, psychological, social and environmental frailty.]

In order to provide proactive care and support for older people attention is needed for the prevention of frailty among older adults. Subsequently, accurate case finding of those who are more at risk of becoming frail is crucial to undertake specific preventive actions. This study investigates frailty and risk profiles of frailty among older people in order to support proactive detection. Hereby, frailty is conceived not only as a physical problem, but also refers to emotional, social, and environmental hazards. Using data generated from the Belgian Ageing Studies (N = 21,664 home-dwelling older people), a multinomial logistic regression model was tested which included socio-demographic and socio-economic indicators as well as the four dimensions of frailty (physical, social, psychological and environmental). Findings indicate that for both men and women having moved in the previous 10 years and having a lower household income are risk factors of becoming multidimensional frail. However, studying the different frailty domains, several risk profiles arise (e. g. marital status is important for psychological frailty), and gender-specific risk groups are detected (e. g. non-married men). This paper elaborates on practical implications and formulates a number of future research recommendations to tackle frailty in an ageing society.

Identifying frailty risk profiles of home-dwelling older people: focus on sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics

OBJECTIVES

This paper investigates risk profiles of frailty among older people, as these are essential for detecting those individuals at risk for adverse outcomes and to undertake specific preventive actions. Frailty is not only a physical problem, but also refers to emotional, social, and environmental hazards.

METHODS

Using data generated from the Belgian Ageing Studies, a cross-sectional study (n = 28,049), we tested a multivariate regression model that included sociodemographic and socioeconomic indicators as well as four dimensions of frailty, for men and women separately.

RESULTS

The findings indicated that for both men and women, increased age, having no partner, having moved house in the previous 10 years, having a lower educational level and having a lower household income are risk characteristics for frailty. Moreover, when looking at the different frailty domains, different risk profiles arose, and gender-specific risk characteristics were detected.

DISCUSSION

This paper elaborates on practical implications, and formulates a number of future research recommendations to tackle frailty in an aging society. The conclusion demonstrates the necessity for a thorough knowledge of risk profiles of frailty, as this will save both time and money and permit preventive actions to be more individually tailored.