Making health care safer for older adults receiving skilled home health care services after hospital discharge

NIH RePORTER · AHRQ · R01 · $488,664 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Care transitions are the movement of a person from one healthcare setting to another. Older adults who require skilled home health care (SHHC) services (e.g., home-based nursing) after hospital discharge are at high risk of experiencing early re-hospitalization. SHHC agencies need strategies to ensure safe transitions, yet there is relatively little research to guide improvement efforts. The goal of the current proposal is to develop tools to allow SHHC agencies to identify and act upon threats to older adults' safety in real time. Specific Aim 1: Analyze threats to older adult safety during hospital-to-SHHC transitions through a prospective cohort study. 1a: Describe the incidence of threats to older adults' safety (as measured by the Index of SHHC Transition Quality applied to the transitions of recently hospitalized older adults) and identify strategies for improvement from the perspectives of SHHC providers, older adults, and informal caregivers. 1b: Compare threats identified by SHHC providers versus older adults'/caregivers' Index responses. 1c: Identify which Index threats are drivers of suboptimal outcomes: (1) 30-day emergency department (ED) use or re- hospitalization; (2) older adult/caregiver/SHHC provider transition experience; (3) timely resolution of medication issues; and (4) mortality. Specific Aim 2: Refine a bundle of interventions through stakeholder engagement. Guided by a participatory ergonomics approach, we will form intervention refinement teams (IRTs) including older adults/caregivers, SHHC providers, and SHHC leadership at two large SHHC agencies. In preparation for pilot testing of the bundle of interventions, IRTs will meet to (1) present key drivers of suboptimal outcomes (from SA1) to prioritize areas for SHHC performance improvement, (2) identify system constraints and design requirements for the bundle, (3) present and select strategies for inclusion in the bundle, (4) evaluate workflow and assign roles for implementation of the bundle, and (5) anticipate barriers and brainstorm solutions. Specific Aim 3: Pilot test bundle implementation in a second prospective cohort study to test feasibility. We will use the Index to identify older adults experiencing high-risk hospital-to-SHHC transitions and deliver the bundle to these older adults. We will investigate 30-day ED use, re-hospitalization, and mortality for the intervention group and compare to concurrent and historical controls. IRTs will meet to assess the impact of the bundle as assessed through surveys and focus groups of older adults/caregivers and SHHC providers discussing (1) acceptability, (2) appropriateness, (3) identification of barriers to implementation, and (4) analysis of impact on workflow, including unanticipated consequences. Completion of these aims will result in tools to improve the quality of older adults' hospital-to-SHHC transitions. Study findings will build the foundation for future work, including a randomized-controlled-trial testing t...

Key facts

NIH application ID
9985018
Project number
5R01HS026599-02
Recipient
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Principal Investigator
Alicia Ines Arbaje
Activity code
R01
Funding institute
AHRQ
Fiscal year
2020
Award amount
$488,664
Award type
5
Project period
2019-08-01 → 2022-05-31