Does the Design of Settings Where Acute Care Is Delivered Meet the Needs of Older People? Perspectives of Patients, Family Carers, and Staff.

BACKGROUND: Older people with an acute illness, many of whom are also frail, form a significant proportion of the acute hospital inpatient population. Attention is focusing on ways of improving the physical environment to optimize health outcomes and staff efficiency. PURPOSE: This article explores the effects of the physical environment in three acute care settings: acute hospital site, in-patient rehabilitation hospital, and intermediate care provision (a nursing home with some beds dedicated to intermediate care) chosen to represent different steps on the acute care pathway for older people and gain the perspectives of patients, family carers, and staff. METHODS: Semi structured interviews were undertaken with 40 patient/carer dyads (where available) and three staff focus groups were conducted in each care setting with a range of staff. RESULTS: Multiple aspects of the physical environment were reported as important by patients, family carers, and staff. For example, visitors stressed the importance of access and parking, patients valued environments where privacy and dignity were protected, storage space was poor across all sites, and security was important to patients but visitors want easy access to wards. CONCLUSIONS: The physical environment is a significant component of acute care for older people, many of whom are also frail, but often comes second to organization of care, or relationships between actors in an episode of care.

Testosterone deficiency is associated with increased risk of mortality and testosterone replacement improves survival in men with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Men with type 2 diabetes are known to have a high prevalence of testosterone deficiency. No long-term data are available regarding testosterone and mortality in men with type 2 diabetes or any effect of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). We report a 6-year follow-up study to examine the effect of baseline testosterone and TRT on all-cause mortality in men with type 2 diabetes and low testosterone. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 581 men with type 2 diabetes who had testosterone levels performed between 2002 and 2005 were followed up for a mean period of 5.81.3 S.D. years. mortality rates were compared between total testosterone 10.4nmol/l (300ng/dl; n=343) and testosterone 10.4nmol/l (n=238). the effect of TRT (as per normal clinical practise: 85.9% testosterone gel and 14.1% intramuscular testosterone undecanoate) was assessed retrospectively within the low testosterone group. RESULTS: Mortality was increased in the low testosterone group (17.2%) compared with the normal testosterone group (9%; P=0.003) when controlled for covariates. In the Cox regression model, multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for decreased survival was 2.02 (P=0.009, 95% CI 1.2-3.4). TRT (mean duration 41.6±20.7 months; n=64) was associated with a reduced mortality of 8.4% compared with 19.2% (P=0.002) in the untreated group (n=174). The multivariate-adjusted HR for decreased survival in the untreated group was 2.3 (95% CI 1.3-3.9, P=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Low testosterone levels predict an increase in all-cause mortality during long-term follow-up. Testosterone replacement may improve survival in hypogonadal men with type 2 diabetes.