Barriers and Facilitators to Establishing Partnerships for Substance Use Disorder Care Transitions Between Safety-Net Hospitals and Community-Based Organizations.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of hospital-based transitional opioid programs (TOPs), which aim to connect patients with substance use disorders (SUD) to ongoing treatment in the community following initiation of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment in the hospital, hinges on successful patient transitions. These transitions are enabled by strong partnerships between hospitals and community-based organizations (CBOs). However, no prior study has specifically examined barriers and facilitators to establishing SUD care transition partnerships between hospitals and CBOs. OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers and facilitators to developing partnerships between hospitals and CBOs to facilitate care transitions for patients with SUDs. DESIGN: Qualitative study using semi structured interviews conducted between November 2022-August 2023. PARTICIPANTS: Staff and providers from hospitals affiliated with four safety-net health systems (n=21), and leaders and staff from the CBOs with which they had established partnerships (n=5). APPROACH: Interview questions focused on barriers and facilitators to implementing TOPs, developing partnerships with CBOs, and successfully transitioning SUD patients from hospital settings to CBOs. KEY RESULTS: We identified four key barriers to establishing transition partnerships: policy and philosophical differences between organizations, ineffective communication, limited trust, and a lack of connectivity between data systems. We also identified three facilitators to partnership development: strategies focused on building partnership quality, strategic staffing, and organizing partnership processes. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that while multiple barriers to developing hospital-CBO partnerships exist, stakeholders can adopt implementation strategies that mitigate these challenges such as using mediators, cross-hiring, and focusing on mutually beneficial services, even within resource-limited safety-net settings. Policymakers and health system leaders who wish to optimize TOPs in their facilities should focus on adopting implementation strategies to support transition partnerships such as inadequate data collection and sharing systems.

Put on the sidelines of palliative care: a qualitative study of important barriers to GPs' participation in palliative care and guideline implementation in Norway.

BACKGROUND: Demographic changes, the evolvement of modern medicine and new treatments for severe diseases, increase the need for palliative care services. Palliative care includes all patients with life-limiting conditions, irrespective of diagnosis. In Norway, palliative care rests on a decentralised model where patient care can be delivered close to the patient's home, and the Norwegian guideline for palliative care describes a model of care resting on extensive collaboration. Previous research suggests that this guideline is not well implemented among general practitioners (GPs). In this study, we aim to investigate barriers to GPs' participation in palliative care and implementation of the guideline. METHODS: We interviewed 25 GPs in four focus groups guided by a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed qualitatively with reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: We identified four main themes as barriers to GPs' participation in palliative care and to implementation of the guideline: (1) different established local cultures and practices of palliative care, (2) discontinuity of the GP-patient relationship, (3) unclear clinical handover and information gaps and (4) a mismatch between the guideline and everyday general practice. CONCLUSION: Significant structural and individual barriers to GPs' participation in palliative care exist, which hamper the implementation of the guideline. GPs should be involved as stakeholders when guidelines involving them are created. Introduction of new professionals in primary care needs to be actively managed to avoid inappropriate collaborative practices. Continuity of the GP-patient relationship must be maintained throughout severe illness and at end-of-life.

According to the Norwegian guideline for palliative care, the GP should have a central position in providing primary palliative care.Recent research and public reports suggest that not all GPs have such a central role or adhere to the guidelines.This study highlights individual and structural barriers that could be addressed to increase GPs' participation in palliative care and aid the implementation of the guidelines for palliative care.

Navigating healthcare systems: A qualitative study on socially marginalised patients' experiences of hospital transition and support by social nurses.

BACKGROUND: Socially marginalised patients face many challenges related to their health condition and often have several contacts with healthcare and social service workers. The Danish social nursing initiative, whose nurses have experience and knowledge about marginalisation, aims to support socially marginalised patients during hospital admission and through hospital transitions. However, there is limited knowledge about the hospital transitions of patients being supported by a social nurse. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to explore (1) the perspectives of socially marginalised patients on the transition from hospital to home and (2) how these patients experience the importance of social nursing on patient trajectories after hospital discharge. METHODS: A qualitative study with a phenomenological and hermeneutic approach was performed at a large hospital in southern Denmark. Adult patients who had contact with a social nurse during hospital admission were purposely sampled. Data were collected between January 2023 and March 2023. Initial patient interviews were conducted during hospital admission with a second interview 7-22 days after discharge. Systematic text condensation was used for the analysis, and Nvivo 12 supported data storage and coding. ETHICAL APPROVAL: The study is registered with the Danish Data Protection Agency (22/47509). Informed consent was given by the participants. RESULTS: Sixteen patients participated in the study. The participants experienced major challenges in their transitions from the hospital, which were generally related to their interactions with many different social and healthcare services. While the social nurses supported the patients and helped facilitate care during hospital admission and after discharge, the participants identified transitional care gaps related to multidisciplinary cooperation and standardised care options. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies challenges related to the hospital transition of socially marginalised patients, which indicates a gap in healthcare services. Future research should focus on improving interprofessional collaboration with socially marginalised patients across healthcare services.

Research protocol of the Laval-ROSA Transilab: a living lab on transitions for people living with dementia.

BACKGROUND: The Laval-ROSA Transilab is a living lab that aims to support the Laval Integrated Health and Social Services Centres (Quebec, Canada) in consolidating the Quebec Alzheimer Plan. It aims to improve care transitions between different settings (Family Medicine Groups, home care, and community services) and as such improve the care of people living with dementia and their care partners. Four transition-oriented innovations are targeted. Two are already underway and will be co-evaluated: A) training of primary care professionals on dementia and interprofessional collaboration; B) early referral process to community services. Two will be co-developed and co-evaluated: C) developing a structured communication strategy around the dementia diagnosis disclosure; D) designation of a care navigator from the time of dementia diagnosis. The objectives are to: 1) co-develop a dashboard for monitoring transitions; 2) co-develop and 3) co-evaluate the four targeted innovations on transitions. In addition, we will 4) co-evaluate the impact and implementation process of the entire Laval-ROSA Transilab transformation, 5) support its sustainability, and 6) transfer it to other health organizations. METHODS: Multi-methods living lab approach based on the principles of a learning health system. Living labs are open innovation systems that integrate research co-creation and knowledge exchange in real-life settings. Learning health systems centers care improvement on developing the organization's capacity to learn from their practices. We will conduct two learning cycles (data to knowledge, knowledge to practice, and practice to data) and involve various partners. We will use multiple data sources, including health administrative databases, electronic health records data, surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observations. DISCUSSION: Through its structuring actions, the Laval-ROSA Transilab will benefit people living with dementia, their care partners, and healthcare professionals. Its strategies will support sustainability and will thus allow for improvements throughout the care continuum so that people can receive the right services, at the right time, in the right place, and from the right staff.

Exploring interdependencies, vulnerabilities, gaps and bridges in care transitions of patients with complex care needs using the Functional Resonance Analysis Method.

BACKGROUND: Hospital discharge is a complex process encompassing multiple interactions and requiring coordination. To identify potential improvement measures in care transitions for people with complex care needs, intra- and inter-organisational everyday work needs to be properly understood, including its interdependencies, vulnerabilities and gaps. The aims of this study were to 1) map coordination and team collaboration across healthcare and social care organisations, 2) describe interdependencies and system variability in the discharge process for older people with complex care needs, and 3) evaluate the alignment between discharge planning and the needs in the home. METHODS: Data were collected through participant observations, interviews, and document review in a region of southern Sweden. The Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) was used to model the discharge process and visualise and analyse coordination of care across healthcare and social care organisations. RESULTS: Hospital discharge is a time-sensitive process with numerous couplings and interdependencies where healthcare professionals' performance is constrained by system design and organisational boundaries. The greatest vulnerability can be found when the patient arrives at home, as maladaptation earlier in the care chain can lead to an accumulation of issues for the municipal personnel in health and social care working closest to the patient. The possibilities for the personnel to adapt are limited, especially at certain times of day, pushing them to make trade-offs to ensure patient safety. Flexibility and appropriate resources enable for handling variability and responding to uncertainties in care after discharge. CONCLUSIONS: Mapping hospital discharge using the FRAM reveals couplings and interdependencies between various individuals, teams, and organisations and the most vulnerable point, when the patient arrives at home. Resilient performance in responding to unexpected events and variations during the first days after the return home requires a system allowing flexibility and facilitating successful adaptation of discharge planning.

Cumulative Disempowerment: How Families Experience Older Adults' Transitions into Long-Term Residential Care.

Although emerging research links family experiences with long-term residential care (LTRC) transitions to structural features of health care systems, existing scholarship inadvertently tends to represent the transition as an individual problem to which families need to adjust. This secondary qualitative analysis of 55 interviews with 22 family members caring for an older adult engages a critical gerontological lens. A concept of cumulative, structural empowerment informs this analysis of families' experiences across a broad continuum of older adults' moves into LTRC. Leading up to transitions, families have little power over home care services, and family members have little control over their involvement in care provision. Some families respond by making choices to refuse publicly provided service options, therein both resisting and reinforcing broader relations of power. Expectations for family involvement in LTRC placement decisions were incongruent with some families' experiences, reinforcing a sense of powerlessness compounded by the speed with which these decisions needed to be made. A broad temporal analysis of transitions highlights LTRC transitions as a process of cumulative family disempowerment connected to broader formal care structures alongside emphases on aging in place and familialism that characterize LTRC as the option of last resort.

Health System-Level Performance in Prescribing Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy for Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: Results From the CONNECT-HF Trial.

BACKGROUND: Health system-level interventions to improve use of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) often fail in the acute care setting. We sought to identify factors associated with high performance in adoption of GDMT among health systems in CONNECT-HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Site-level composite quality scores were calculated at discharge and last follow-up. Site performance was defined as the average change in score from baseline to last follow-up and analyzed by performance tertile using a mixed-effects model with baseline performance as a fixed effect and site as a random effect. Among 150 randomized sites, the mean 12-month improvement in GDMT was 1.8% (-26.4% to 60.0%). Achievement of 50% or more of the target dose for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors, and beta-blockers at 12 months was modest, even at the highest performing sites (median 29.6% [23%, 41%] and 41.2% [29%, 50%]). Sites achieving higher GDMT scores had care teams that included social workers and pharmacists, as well as patients who were able to afford medications and access medication lists in the electronic health record. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial gaps in site-level use of GDMT were found, even among the highest performing sites. The failure of hospital-level interventions to improve quality metrics suggests that a team-based approach to care and improved patient access to medications are needed for postdischarge success.

An Intensive Intervention to Reduce Readmissions for Frequently Hospitalized Patients: the CHAMP Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: A small number of patients are disproportionally readmitted to hospitals. The Complex High Admission Management Program (CHAMP) was established as a multidisciplinary program to improve continuity of care and reduce readmissions for frequently hospitalized patients. OBJECTIVE: To compare hospital utilization metrics among patients enrolled in CHAMP and usual care. DESIGN: Pragmatic randomized controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS: Inclusion criteria were as follows: 3 or more, 30-day inpatient readmissions in the previous year; or 2 inpatient readmissions plus either a referral or 3 observation admissions in previous 6 months. INTERVENTIONS: Patients randomized to CHAMP were managed by an interdisciplinary team including social work, physicians, and pharmacists. The CHAMP team used comprehensive care planning and inpatient, outpatient, and community visits to address both medical and social needs. Control patients were randomized to usual care and contacted 18 months after initial identification if still eligible. MAIN MEASURES: Primary outcome was number of 30-day inpatient readmissions 180 days following enrollment. Secondary outcomes were number of hospital admissions, total hospital days, emergency department visits, and outpatient clinic visits 180 days after enrollment. KEY RESULTS: There were 75 patients enrolled in CHAMP, 76 in control. Groups were similar in demographic characteristics and baseline readmissions. At 180 days following enrollment, CHAMP patients had more inpatient 30-day readmissions [CHAMP incidence rate 1.3 (95% CI 0.9-1.8) vs. control 0.8 (95% CI 0.5-1.1), p=0.04], though both groups had fewer readmissions compared to 180 days prior to enrollment. We found no differences in secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Frequently hospitalized patients experienced reductions in utilization over time. Though most outcomes showed no difference, CHAMP was associated with higher readmissions compared to a control group, possibly due to consolidation of care at a single hospital. Future research should seek to identify subsets of patients with persistently high utilization for whom tailored interventions may be beneficial. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03097640; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03097640.

"Our Hands Are Tied Until Your Doctor Gets Here": Nursing Perspectives on Inter-hospital Transfers.

BACKGROUND: The transfer of patients between hospitals (inter-hospital transfer, or IHT) is a common occurrence for patients, but guidelines to ensure safe and effective IHTs are lacking. Poor IHTs result in higher rates of mortality, longer lengths of stay, and higher hospitalization costs compared to admissions from the emergency department. Nurses are often the first point of contact for IHT patients and can provide valuable insights on key challenges to IHT processes. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the experiences of inpatient floor-level bedside nurses caring for IHT patients and identify care coordination challenges and solutions. DESIGN/PARTICIPANTS/APPROACH: Qualitative study using semi-structured focus groups and interviews conducted from October 2019 to July 2020 with 21 inpatient floor-level nurses caring for adult medicine patients at an academic hospital. Nurses were recruited using a purposive convenience sampling approach. A combined inductive and deductive coding approach guided by thematic analysis was used for data analysis. KEY RESULTS: Results from this study are mapped to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Care Coordination Measurement Framework domains of communication, assessing needs and goals, and negotiating accountability. The following key themes characterize nurses' experiences with IHT related to these domains: (1) challenges with information exchange and team communication during IHT, (2) environmental and information preparation needed to anticipate transfers, and (3) determining responsibility and care plans after the IHT patient has arrived at the accepting facility. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses described the absence of standardized processes to coordinate care before or at the time of patient arrival. Challenges to communication and coordination during IHTs negatively impacted patient care and nursing professional satisfaction. To streamline care for IHT patients and reduce nursing stress, future IHT interventions should include standardized handoff reports, timely identification and easy access to admitting clinicians, and timely clinician evaluation and orders.

Interviews with primary care physicians identify unmet transition needs after ICU.

AIM: We sought to explore unmet needs in transitions of care for critical illness survivors that concern primary care physicians. FINDINGS: Semi-structured interviews with primary care physicians identified three categories of concerns about unmet transition needs after patients' ICU stays: patients' understanding of their ICU stay and potential complications, treatments or support needs not covered by insurance, and starting and maintaining needed rehabilitation and assistance across transitions of care. CONCLUSION: Given current constraints of access to coordinated post-ICU care, efforts to identify and address the post-hospitalization needs of critical illness survivors may be improved through coordinated work across the health system.

Experiences of service transitions in Australian early intervention psychosis services: a qualitative study with young people and their supporters.

BACKGROUND: Different Early Intervention Psychosis Service (EIPS) models of care exist, but many rely upon community-based specialist clinical teams, often with other services providing psychosocial care. Time-limited EIPS care creates numerous service transitions that have potential to interrupt continuity of care. We explored with young people (YP) and their support people (SP) their experiences of these transitions, how they affected care and how they could be better managed. METHODS: Using purposive sampling, we recruited twenty-seven YP, all of whom had been hospitalised at some stage, and twelve SP (parents and partners of YP) from state and federally funded EIPS in Australia with different models of care and integration into secondary mental health care. Audio-recorded interviews were conducted face-to-face or via phone. A diverse research team (including lived experience, clinician and academic researchers) used an inductive thematic analysis process. Two researchers undertook iterative coding using NVivo12 software, themes were developed and refined in ongoing team discussion. RESULTS: The analysis identified four major service-related transitions in a YP's journey with the EIPS that were described as reflecting critical moments of care, including: transitioning into EIPS; within service changes; transitioning in and out of hospital whilst in EIPS care; and, EIPS discharge. These service-related transition affected continuity of care, whilst within service changes, such as staff turnover, affected the consistency of care and could result in information asymmetry. At these transition points, continuity of care, ensuring service accessibility and flexibility, person centredness and undertake bio-psychosocial support and planning were recommended. State and federally funded services both had high levels of service satisfaction, however, there was evidence of higher staff turnover in federally funded services. CONCLUSION: Service transitions were identified as vulnerable times in YP and SP continuity of care. Although these were often well supported by the EIPS, participants provided illustrative examples for service improvement. These included enhancing continuity and consistency of care, through informed and supportive handovers when staff changes occur, and collaborative planning with other services and the YP, particularly during critical change periods such as hospitalisation.

Opportunities for transitional care and care continuity following hospital discharge of older people in three Nordic cities: A comparative study.

AIM: To outline and discuss care transitions and care continuity following hospital discharge of older people with complex care needs in three Nordic cities: Copenhagen, Tampere and Stockholm. METHODS: Data on potential pathways following hospital discharge of older people were obtained from existing literature and expert consultations. The pathways for each system were outlined and presented in three figures. The hospital discharge process of the systems was then compared. RESULTS: In all three care systems, the main care path from hospital is to home. Short-term intermediate healthcare can be provided in all three systems, possibly creating additional care transitions; however, once home, extensive home healthcare may prevent further care transitions. Opportunities for continuity of care include needs assessments (all cities) and meetings with the patient about care upon return home (Copenhagen, Stockholm). Yet this is challenged by lack of transfer of information (Tampere) and patients' having to apply for some services themselves (Tampere, Stockholm). CONCLUSIONS: Comparisons of the discharge processes studied suggest that despite individual care planning and short- and long-term care options, transitional care and care continuity are challenged by limited access as some services need to be applied for by the older person themselves.

Characterization of multilevel influences of mental health care transitions: a comparative case study analysis.

PURPOSE: Mental health care transitions are increasingly prioritized given their potential to optimize care delivery and patient outcomes, especially those focused on the transition from inpatient to outpatient mental health care. However, limited efforts to date characterize such mental health transition practices, especially those spanning multiple service setting contexts. Examination of key influences of inpatient to outpatient mental health care transitions across care contexts is needed to inform ongoing and future efforts to improve mental health care transitions. The current work aims to characterize multilevel influences of mental health care transitions across three United States-based mental health system contexts. METHODS: A comparative multiple case study design was used to characterize transition practices within the literature examining children's, non-VA adult, and VA adult service contexts. Andersen's (1995) Behavioral Health Service Use Model was applied to identify and characterize relevant distinct and common domains of focus in care transitions across systems. RESULTS: Several key influences to mental health care transitions were identified spanning the environmental, individual, and health behavior domains, including: community capacity or availability, cross-system or agency collaboration, provider training and experience related to mental health care transitions, client care experience and expectations, and client clinical characteristics or complexity. CONCLUSIONS: Synthesis illustrated several common factors across system contexts as well as unique factors for further consideration. Our findings inform key considerations and recommendations for ongoing and future efforts aiming to plan, expand, and better support mental health care transitions. These include timely information sharing, enhanced care coordination and cross setting and provider communication, continued provider/client education, and appropriate tailoring of services to improve mental health care transitions.

Older Adult Patients and Care Partners as Knowledge Brokers in Fragmented Health Care.

OBJECTIVE: To describe older adult patients' and care partners' knowledge broker roles during emergency department (ED) visits. BACKGROUND: Older adult patients are vulnerable to communication and coordination challenges during an ED visit, which can be exacerbated by the time and resource constrained ED environment. Yet, as a constant throughout the patient journey, patients and care partners can act as an information conduit, or knowledge broker, between fragmented care systems to attain high-quality, safe care. METHODS: Participants included 14 older adult patients (≥ 65 years old) and their care partners (e.g., spouse, adult child) who presented to the ED after having experienced a fall. Human factors researchers collected observation data from patients, care partners and clinician interactions during the patient's ED visit. We used an inductive content analysis to determine the role of patients and care partners as knowledge brokers. RESULTS: We found that patients and care partners act as knowledge brokers by providing information about diagnostic testing, medications, the patient's health history, and care accommodations at the disposition location. Patients and care partners filled the role of knowledge broker proactively (i.e. offer information) and reactively (i.e. are asked to provide information by clinicians or staff), within-ED work system and across work systems (e.g., between the ED and hospital), and in anticipation of future knowledge brokering. CONCLUSION: Patients and care partners, acting as knowledge brokers, often fill gaps in communication and participate in care coordination that assists in mitigating health care fragmentation.

Gaps in Hospital and Skilled Nursing Facility Responsibilities During Transitions of Care: a Comparison of Hospital and SNF Clinicians' Perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Adverse outcomes are common in transitions from hospital to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Gaps in transitional care processes contribute to these outcomes, but it is unclear whether hospital and SNF clinicians have the same perception about who is responsible for filling these gaps in care transitions. OBJECTIVE: We sought to understand the perspectives of hospital and SNF clinicians on their roles and responsibilities in transitional care processes, to identify areas of congruence and gaps that could be addressed to improve transitions. DESIGN: Semi-structured interviews with interdisciplinary hospital and SNF providers. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-one clinicians across 3 hospitals and 3 SNFs including nurses (8), social workers (7), physicians (8), physical and occupational therapists (12), and other staff (6). APPROACH: Using team-based approach to deductive analysis, we mapped responses to the 10 domains of the Ideal Transitions of Care Framework (ITCF) to identify areas of agreement and gaps between hospitals and SNFs. KEY RESULTS: Although both clinician groups had similar conceptions of an ideal transitions of care, their perspectives included significant gaps in responsibilities in 8 of the 10 domains of ITCF, including Discharge Planning; Complete Communication of Information; Availability, Timeliness, Clarity and Organization of Information; Medication Safety; Educating Patients to Promote Self-Management; Enlisting Help of Social and Community Supports; Coordinating Care Among Team Members; and Managing Symptoms After Discharge. CONCLUSIONS: As hospitals and SNFs increasingly are held jointly responsible for the outcomes of patients transitioning between them, clarity in roles and responsibilities between hospital and SNF staff are needed. Improving transitions of care may require site-level efforts, joint hospital-SNF initiatives, and national financial, regulatory, and technological fixes. In the meantime, building effective hospital-SNF partnerships is increasingly important to delivering high-quality care to a vulnerable older adult population.

Complex Transitions from Skilled Nursing Facility to Home: Patient and Caregiver Perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Patients who undergo the complex series of transitions from the hospital to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) back to home represent a unique patient population with multiple comorbidities and impaired functional abilities. The needs and outcomes of patients who are discharged from the hospital to SNF before returning home are understudied in care transitions scholarship. OBJECTIVE: To study the patient and caregiver challenges and perspectives on transitions from the hospital to the SNF and back to home. DESIGN: Between 48 h and 1 week after discharge from the SNF, semi-structured interviews were performed with a convenience sample of patients and caregivers in their homes. Within 1 to 2 weeks after the baseline interview, follow-up interviews were performed over the phone. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 39 interviewees comprised older adults undergoing the series of transitions from hospital to skilled nursing facility to home and their informal caregivers. MAIN MEASURES: A constructionist, grounded-theory approach was used to code the interviews, identify major themes and subthemes, and develop a theoretical model explaining the outcomes of the SNF to home transition. KEY RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 76.6 years and 64.8 years for the caregivers. Four major themes were identified: comforts of home, information needs, post-SNF care, and independence. Patients noted an extended time away from home and were motivated to return to and remain in the home. Information needs were variably met and affected post-SNF care, including medication management, appointments, and therapy gains and setbacks. Interviewees identified independent function at home as the most important outcome of the transition home. CONCLUSIONS: Post-SNF in home support is needed rapidly after discharge from the SNF to prevent adverse outcomes. In-home support needs to be highly individualized based on a patient's and caregiver's unique situation and needs.

Doing involvement: A qualitative study exploring the 'work' of involvement enacted by older people and their carers during transition from hospital to home.

CONTEXT: Being involved in one's care is prioritised within UK healthcare policy to improve care quality and safety. However, research suggests that many older people struggle with this. DESIGN: We present focused ethnographic research exploring older peoples' involvement in healthcare from hospital to home. RESULTS: We propose that being involved in care is a dynamic form of labour, which we call 'involvement work' (IW). In hospital, many patients 'entrust' IW to others; indeed, when desired, maintaining control, or being actively involved, was challenging. Patient and professionals' expectations, alongside hospital processes, promoted delegation; staff frequently did IW on patients' behalf. Many people wanted to resume IW postdischarge, but struggled because they were out of practice. DISCUSSION: Preference and capacity for involvement was dynamic, fluctuating over time, according to context and resource accessibility. The challenges of resuming IW were frequently underestimated by patients and care providers, increasing dependence on others post-discharge and negatively affecting peoples' sense and experience of (in)dependence. CONCLUSIONS: A balance needs to be struck between respecting peoples' desire/capacity for non-involvement in hospital while recognising that 'delegating' IW can be detrimental. Increasing involvement will require patient and staff roles to be reframed, though this must be done acknowledging the limits of patient desire, capability,and resources. Hospital work should be (re)organised to maximise involvement where possible and desired. PATIENT/PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Panel contributed to research design, especially developing interview guides and patient-facing documentation. Patients were key participants within the study; it is their experiences represented.

Health care transitions for persons living with dementia and their caregivers.

BACKGROUND: Persons with dementia are likely to require care from various health care providers in multiple care settings, necessitating navigation through an often-fragmented care system. This study aimed to create a better understanding of care transition experiences from the perspectives of persons living with dementia and their caregivers in Ontario, Canada, through the development of a theoretical framework. METHODS: Constructivist grounded theory guided the study. Seventeen individual caregiver interviews, and 12 dyad interviews including persons with dementia and their caregivers, were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were coded using NVivo 10 software; analysis occurred iteratively until saturation was reached. RESULTS: A theoretical framework outlining the context, processes, and influencing factors of care transitions was developed and refined. Gaining an in-depth understanding of the complex care transitions of individuals with dementia and their caregivers is an important step in improving the quality of care and life for this population. CONCLUSION: The framework developed in this study provides a focal point for efforts to improve the health care transitions of persons living with dementia.

Improving mental health care transitions through information capture during admission to inpatient mental health services: a quality improvement study.

BACKGROUND: Many interventions aim to improve the transition from ward to community at the time of discharge, with varying success. Guidelines suggest that discharge planning should begin at admission, but in reality this is ideal rather than standard practice. We aimed to develop a novel information capture tool during admission that facilitates and accelerates discharge. METHODS: A quality improvement study to develop, implement and evaluate a novel tool that improves information capture upon admission to acute mental health wards within a single English National Health Service (NHS) trust. We developed the tool by synthesising existing evidence and working with multi-agency and multi-disciplinary professionals in two co-design workshops. During implementation the tool was piloted on three wards. Ethnographic observations (145 h) and interviews (45) were used to evaluate the implementation of the tool across the three wards. Thematic synthesis was used to consolidate the findings. RESULTS: The tool developed considerably as the process evolved. The finished product is a list of 10 information categories that should be captured from external agencies upon admission to hospital to facilitate discharge planning to community settings. Reported advantages of the tool were: (1) facilitating confidence in junior staff to legitimately question the suitability of a patient for an acute ward (2) collecting and storing essential information in a single accessible place that can be used throughout the care pathway and (3) collecting information from the services/agencies to which patients will eventually be discharged. CONCLUSIONS: Improving the quality of information at admission has the potential to facilitate and accelerate discharge. The novel tool provides a framework for capturing this information that can be incorporated into existing information systems. However, the introduction of the tool exacerbated complex, fragile distributed team dynamics, highlighting the importance of sociocultural context in information flow transitional interventions within distributed teams.

Personal Electronic Records of Medications (PERMs) for medication reconciliation at care transitions: a rapid realist review.

BACKGROUND: Medication reconciliation (MedRec), a process to reduce medication error at care transitions, is labour- and resource-intensive and time-consuming. Use of Personal Electronic Records of Medications (PERMs) in health information systems to support MedRec have proven challenging. Relatively little is known about the design, use or implementation of PERMs at care transitions that impacts on MedRec in the 'real world'. To respond to this gap in knowledge we undertook a rapid realist review (RRR). The aim was to develop theories to explain how, why, when, where and for whom PERMs are designed, implemented or used in practice at care transitions that impacts on MedRec. METHODOLOGY: We used realist methodology and undertook the RRR between August 2020 and February 2021. We collaborated with experts in the field to identify key themes. Articles were sourced from four databases (Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL Complete and OpenGrey) to contribute to the theory development. Quality assessment, screening and data extraction using NVivo was completed. Contexts, mechanisms and outcomes configurations were identified and synthesised. The experts considered these theories for relevance and practicality and suggested refinements. RESULTS: Ten provisional theories were identified from 19 articles. Some theories relate to the design (T2 Inclusive design, T3 PERMs complement existing good processes, T7 Interoperability), some relate to the implementation (T5 Tailored training, T9 Positive impact of legislation or governance), some relate to use (T6 Support and on-demand training) and others relate iteratively to all stages of the process (T1 Engage stakeholders, T4 Build trust, T8 Resource investment, T10 Patients as users of PERMs). CONCLUSIONS: This RRR has allowed additional valuable data to be extracted from existing primary research, with minimal resources, that may impact positively on future developments in this area. The theories are interdependent to a greater or lesser extent; several or all of the theories may need to be in play to collectively impact on the design, implementation or use of PERMs for MedRec at care transitions. These theories should now be incorporated into an intervention and evaluated to further test their validity.