Teaming up for more comprehensive care: case study of the Geriatric flying squad and emergency responders (Ambulance, Police, Fire and Rescue)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the development, implementation and initial evaluation of the Geriatric Flying Squad's reciprocal referral pathways with emergency responders including New South Wales Ambulance, Police and Fire and Rescue. These innovative pathways and model of care were developed to improve access to multidisciplinary services for vulnerable community dwelling frail older people with the intent of improving health and quality of life outcomes by providing an alternative to hospital admission.Design/methodology/approachThis is a case study describing the review of the Geriatric Flying Squad's referral database and quality improvement initiative to streamline referrals amongst the various emergency responders in the local health district. The implementation and initial evaluation of the project through online survey are further described.FindingsSustainable cross-sector collaboration can be achieved through building reciprocal pathways between an existing rapid response geriatric outreach service and emergency responders including Ambulance, Police, Fire and Rescue. Historically, emergency services would have transferred this group to the emergency department. These pathways exemplify person-centred care, underpinned by a multidisciplinary, rapid response team, providing an alternative referral pathway for first responders, with the aim of improving whole of health outcomes for frail older people.Practical implicationsEnablers of these pathways include a single point of contact for agencies, extended hours to support referral pathways, education to increase capacity and awareness, comprehensive and timely comprehensive assessment and ongoing case management where required and contemporaneous cross-sector collaboration to meet the medical and psychosocial needs of the client.Originality/valueThe Geriatric Flying Squad reciprocal pathways are a unique model of care with a multi-agency approach to addressing frail older people's whole of health needs.

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Erratum to: A comprehensive grid to evaluate case management’s expected effectiveness for community-dwelling frail older people: results from a multiple, embedded case study

BMC Geriatrics ◽

10.1186/s12877-015-0084-2 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thérèse Van Durme ◽

Olivier Schmitz ◽

Sophie Cès ◽

Sibyl Anthierens ◽

Roy Remmen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Frail Older People ◽

Embedded Case Study

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The importance of sources of meaning in life of community dwelling psychologically frail older people

Working with Older People ◽

10.1108/wwop-01-2019-0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 65-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lieve Josée Hoeyberghs ◽

Emily Verté ◽

Dominique Verté ◽

Jos M.G.A. Schols ◽

Nico De Witte

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Meaning In Life ◽

Basic Needs ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Financial Security ◽

Frail Older People ◽

Content Type ◽

Care Plans ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose Psychological frailty adds most to overall feelings of frailty, but is often neglected, although meaning in life is important for psychological well-being. The purpose of this paper is to explore the sources of meaning in life within psychologically frail older people. Design/methodology/approach Data (n= 16,872) generated from the Belgian Ageing Studies were collected, using the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument and the Sources of Meaning Profile (SOMP-R) instrument. Psychometric properties of the SOMP-R were explored using factor and reliability analysis and one-way-ANOVA analysis were used to asses mean differences. Findings Financial security, meeting basic needs and personal relations play an important role as sources of meaning in life. Moreover, the SOMP-R showed excellent psychometric properties. Research limitations/implications Due to the cross-sectional design of this study, evolution in time and causal links could not be assessed. Practical implications The findings of this study emphasize that sources of meaning in life are relevant and can be assessed using the SOMP-R upon which individually tailored care plans can be developed. The results show that, meaning in life as such plays an important role for psychologically frail older people. As a consequence, this offers insights to support these older people. Caregivers and policymakers might therefore take these results into account. Guarantee and/or follow up a frail individual’s financial security, assessing and enabling one’s personal relationships and meeting their basic needs are very important when taking care of psychologically frail older individuals. Social implications Besides the practical implications, the social inclusion of psychologically frail older people seems to be relevant. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the association between meaning in life and psychological frailty in later life is not yet investigated. Further the findings of this study emphasize that sources of meaning in life are relevant and can be assessed using the SOMP-R upon which individually tailored care plans can be developed.

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A comprehensive grid to evaluate case management’s expected effectiveness for community-dwelling frail older people: results from a multiple, embedded case study

BMC Geriatrics ◽

10.1186/s12877-015-0069-1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Thérèse Van Durme ◽

Olivier Schmitz ◽

Sophie Cès ◽

Sibyl Anthierens ◽

Patrick Maggi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Frail Older People ◽

Embedded Case Study

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Implementation of an innovative web-based conference table for community-dwelling frail older people, their informal caregivers and professionals: a process evaluation

BMC Health Services Research ◽

10.1186/1472-6963-12-251 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Sarah HM Robben ◽

Marieke Perry ◽

Mirjam Huisjes ◽

Leontien van Nieuwenhuijzen ◽

Henk J Schers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Process Evaluation ◽

Informal Caregivers ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Frail Older People ◽

Web Based

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Implementation of the StandingTall programme to prevent falls in older people: a process evaluation protocol

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048395 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. e048395

Author(s):

Morag E Taylor ◽

Chris Todd ◽

Sandra O'Rourke ◽

Lindy M Clemson ◽

Jacqueline CT Close ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Research Ethics ◽

Process Evaluation ◽

Ethics Committee ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Innovative Technology ◽

Local Health ◽

Research Ethics Committee ◽

Personal Impact ◽

The Uk

IntroductionOne in three people aged 65 years and over fall each year. The health, economic and personal impact of falls will grow substantially in the coming years due to population ageing. Developing and implementing cost-effective strategies to prevent falls and mobility problems among older people is therefore an urgent public health challenge. StandingTall is a low-cost, unsupervised, home-based balance exercise programme delivered through a computer or tablet. StandingTall has a simple user-interface that incorporates physical and behavioural elements designed to promote compliance. A large randomised controlled trial in 503 community-dwelling older people has shown that StandingTall is safe, has high adherence rates and is effective in improving balance and reducing falls. The current project targets a major need for older people and will address the final steps needed to scale this innovative technology for widespread use by older people across Australia and internationally.Methods and analysisThis project will endeavour to recruit 300 participants across three sites in Australia and 100 participants in the UK. The aim of the study is to evaluate the implementation of StandingTall into the community and health service settings in Australia and the UK. The nested process evaluation will use both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore uptake and acceptability of the StandingTall programme and associated resources. The primary outcome is participant adherence to the StandingTall programme over 6 months.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been obtained from the South East Sydney Local Health District Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC reference 18/288) in Australia and the North West- Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee (IRAS ID: 268954) in the UK. Dissemination will be via publications, conferences, newsletter articles, social media, talks to clinicians and consumers and meetings with health departments/managers.Trial registration numberACTRN12619001329156.

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Assets-based approaches to developing age friendly communities: learning from the bristol ageing better programme

Working with Older People ◽

10.1108/wwop-07-2021-0038 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Amy Beardmore ◽

Penny Beynon ◽

Christine Crabbe ◽

Carol Fry ◽

Jan Fullforth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Development ◽

Older People ◽

Production Method ◽

Project Delivery ◽

Development Projects ◽

Practical Application ◽

Content Type ◽

Diverse Groups ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose International attention is increasingly turning to the challenge of creating age-friendly environments. This study aims to examine the application of asset-based approaches in undertaking community development projects with older people. The paper intends to share the learning that may be useful when designing community development projects for older people in the future. Design/methodology/approach This study followed a multiple project case study design, with a focus on project delivery practices. It was undertaken as a co-production exercise involving university researchers and trained older volunteer community researchers (CRs). Over 18–24 months of qualitative research was conducted in relation to six area-based urban projects between 2018 and 2020. Findings There were five leading themes as follows: mapping and building on assets in highly localised settings; creating governance and direction through steering groups; developing activities with diverse groups of older people; reaching isolated and lonely older people; building local capacity to embed sustainability. Practical implications The effectiveness of assets-based approaches in promoting age-friendly agendas appears to be contingent on the values, skills, capacity and resourcing of delivery agencies, alongside wider public sector investment in communities. Diversity and inequalities amongst older people need to be taken into account and community development that specifically focuses on older people needs to be balanced with the whole population and intergenerational practice. Originality/value This paper provides an empirical account of the practical application of assets practices specifically in the context of the age-friendly community agenda. The co-production method brings together insights from academic and volunteer older CRs.

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