scholarly journals Sleep Patterns of Older Residents in Long-Term-Care Facilities: A Comparison with Older Adults in Home-Care Services and Community-Dwelling Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-84
Author(s):  
Eunhee Hwang
2021 ◽  
pp. 084456212110443
Author(s):  
Brittany Barber ◽  
Lori Weeks ◽  
Lexie Steeves-Dorey ◽  
Wendy McVeigh ◽  
Susan Stevens ◽  
...  

Background An increasing proportion of older adults experience avoidable hospitalizations, and some are potentially entering long-term care homes earlier and often unnecessarily. Older adults often lack adequate support to transition from hospital to home, without access to appropriate health services when they are needed in the community and resources to live safely at home. Purpose This study collaborated with an existing enhanced home care program called Home Again in Nova Scotia, to identify factors that contribute to older adult patients being assessed as requiring long-term care when they could potentially return home with enhanced supports. Methods Using a case study design, this study examined in-depth experiences of multiple stakeholders, from December 2019 to February 2020, through analysis of nine interviews for three focal patient cases including older adult patients, their family or friend caregivers, and healthcare professionals. Results Findings indicate home care services for older adults are being sought too late, after hospital readmission, or a rapid decline in health status when family caregivers are already experiencing caregiver burnout. Limitations in home care services led to barriers preventing family caregivers from continuing to care for older adults at home. Conclusions This study contributes knowledge about gaps within home care and transitional care services, highlighting the importance of investing in additional home care services for rehabilitation and prevention of rapidly deteriorating health.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany Barber ◽  
Lori Weeks ◽  
Lexie Steeves-Dorey ◽  
Wendy McVeigh ◽  
Susan Stevens ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: An increasing proportion of older adults experience avoidable hospitalizations, and some are potentially entering long-term care homes earlier and often unnecessarily. Within Canada, approximately 10 percent of newly admitted long-term care residents could have potentially been cared for at home. Without adequate support from health care services to transition older adults from hospital to home, they often lack access to appropriate services when they are needed in the community thus making them more vulnerable to avoidable hospital visits, rapid deterioration of health, and earlier and unnecessary placement into residential long-term care. The purpose of this study was to collaborate with an existing enhanced home care program called Home Again in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to identify factors that contribute to older adult patients being assessed as requiring long-term care when they could potentially return home with enhanced supports. Methods: Through a retrospective case study design, we analyzed nine interviews for three focal patient cases including older adult patients, their family or friend caregivers, and healthcare professionals. Results: Findings indicate home care services for older adults are being sought too late, after hospital re-admission, or a rapid decline in health status when family caregivers are already experiencing caregiver burnout. Limitations in home care services ultimately led to barriers preventing family caregivers from continuing to care for older adults at home, such as absence of overnight services, a lack of information about home care services, and a lack of knowledge to navigate resources available. Conclusion: This study contributes knowledge about gaps within home care and transitional care services, highlighting the significance of investing in additional home care services for rehabilitation and the prevention of rapidly deteriorating health when older adults are discharged home after their first hospital visit. By understanding experiences and challenges of patients, family or friend caregivers, and healthcare professionals, we identified ways to reduce healthcare costs and improve the delivery and quality of home care services to better support older adult patients and their family or friend caregivers and to ensure hospitalized older adults are not unnecessarily admitted to nursing homes.


Author(s):  
Alexander Seifert

Digital solutions (e.g., videocast) to stay in contact have been more prevalently used during the pandemic; however, have older adults—who are often not familiar with modern technologies—used the internet more often during the pandemic? This brief note presents the first findings about the question of growth in internet use among older adults based on two representative surveys in Switzerland. The results showed that among the community-dwelling older adults, 45.7% had increased their internet usage, but only 19.5% among the residents of long-term care facilities had. Social workers should remain aware of the digital divide when working with older adults.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7277
Author(s):  
Aviad Tur-Sinai ◽  
Netta Bentur ◽  
Paolo Fabbietti ◽  
Giovanni Lamura

The COVID-19 pandemic has been dramatically affecting the life of older adults with care needs and their family caregivers. This study illustrates how the initial outbreak of the pandemic changed the supply of formal and informal care to older adults in European countries and Israel and assesses the resilience of these countries in providing support to their older populations by means of a mix of both types of care. We subjected data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe COVID-19 period (SHARE-COVID-19) across 23 European countries (including Israel) to descriptive and cluster analyses. In the first wave of the outbreak, a significant proportion of older adults in European countries received informal help, with an increase in the frequency of informal help received from children, neighbors, friends, or colleagues and a decrease in that received from other relatives. In most countries, difficulties in receiving home care services from professional providers were reported. Seven clusters were identified, reflecting different combinations of changes in the formal/informal care provision. In most countries, informal care is more resilient than home care services that formal providers deliver. Since they are an essential source for sustainable care, their challenges related to care should be addressed. The impact of the pandemic does not follow the traditional characterization of welfare regimes. A clustering effort may yield more understanding of the priorities that future care policies should exhibit at the national level and may identify potential systems for policymakers to enhance sustainability of care for community-dwelling older adults.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 348-349
Author(s):  
Su-I Hou ◽  
Chien-Ching Li ◽  
Darren Liu

Abstract As healthcare advances, older adults are living longer. While 90% of older adults prefer aging in their own homes and communities, it is important to examine key factors influencing healthy aging-in-community and community-based long-term care (LTC) services available in different countries. This symposium examines behavioral health, social engagement, and LTC services utilization among community-dwelling older adults in the USA and Taiwan. Lessons learned from older adults across countries will provide insights for tailored community-based LTC services and program development. Dr. Hou from The University of Central Florida (UCF) will highlight similarities and differences in behavioral health profiles and the topics that most interest community-dwelling older Americans participating in three aging-in-community programs in Central Florida. Dr. Wang from Case Western Reserve University will examine the impact of neighborhood social cohesion on mobility among community-dwelling older Americans aged 65 and older from the national Health and Retirement Study. Dr. Liu from National Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan will share results of healthy lifestyle on quality of life among community-dwelling older adults in southern Taiwan. Dr. Young from State University of New York at Albany will compare long-term care use among community-dwelling older adults with and without dementia in Central Taiwan. Finally, Drs. Cao and Hou from UCF will analyze home and community-based services in the USA versus Taiwan. This symposium will further discuss similarities and differences of key factors related to healthy aging-in-community, along with practical recommendations and lessons learned across countries and cultural environments to improve community-based long-term care services and programs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Carvalho ◽  
Sarah Fustinoni ◽  
Nazanin Abolhassani ◽  
Juan Manuel Blanco ◽  
Lionel Meylan ◽  
...  

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