Coaching older adults discharged home from the emergency department: The role of competence and emotion in following up with outpatient clinicians.

OBJECTIVE: Motivating older adults to follow up with an outpatient clinician after discharge from emergency departments (ED) is beneficial yet challenging. We aimed to answer whether psychological needs for motivation and discrete emotions observed by care transition coaches would predict this behavioral outcome. METHODS: Community-dwelling older adults following ED discharge were recruited from three EDs in two U.S. states. We examined home visit notes documented by coaches (N = 725). Retrospective chart reviews of medical records tracked participants' health care utilization for 30 days. RESULTS: Observed knowledge-based competence predicted higher likelihood of outpatient follow-up within 30 days, while observed sadness predicted a lower likelihood of follow-up within seven days following discharge. Moreover, participants who demonstrated happiness were marginally more likely to have an in-person follow-up within seven days, and those who demonstrated knowledge-based competence were more likely to have an electronic follow-up within 30 days. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge-based competence and emotions, as observed and documented in coach notes, can predict older adults' subsequent outpatient follow-up following their ED-discharge. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Intervention programs might encourage coaches to check knowledge-based competence and to observe emotions in addition to delivering the content. Coaches could also customize strategies for patients with different recommended timeframes of follow-up.

Intraindividual, Dyadic, and Network Communication in a Digital Health Intervention: Distinguishing Message Exposure from Message Production.

Communicating within digital health interventions involves a range of behaviors that may contribute to the management of chronic illnesses in different ways. This study examines whether communication within a smartphone-based application for addiction recovery produces distinct effects depending on 1) the "level" of communication, defined as intraindividual communication (e.g., journal entries to oneself); dyadic communication (e.g., private messaging to other individuals); or network communication (e.g., discussion forum posts to all group members), and 2) whether individuals produce or are exposed to messages. We operationalize these communication levels and behaviors based on system use logs as the number of clicks dedicated to each activity and assess how each category of system use relates to changes in group bonding and substance use after 6 months with the mobile intervention. Our findings show that (1) intraindividual exposure to one's own past posts marginally predicts decreased drug use; (2) dyadic production predicts greater perceived bonding; while dyadic exposure marginally predicts reduced drug use; (3) network production predicts decreased risky drinking. Implications for digital health interventions are discussed.

Effectiveness of a care transitions intervention for older adults discharged home from the emergency department: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Improving care transitions following emergency department (ED) visits may reduce post-ED adverse events among older adults (e.g., ED revisits, decreased function). The Care Transitions Intervention (CTI) improves hospital-to-home transitions; however, its effectiveness at improving post-ED outcomes is unknown. We tested the effectiveness of the CTI with community-dwelling older adult ED patients, hypothesizing that it would reduce revisits and increase performance of self-management behaviors during the 30 days following discharge. METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled trial among patients age ≥ 60 discharged home from one of three EDs in two states. Intervention participants received a minimally modified CTI, with a home visit 24 to 72 h postdischarge and one to three phone calls over 28 days. We collected demographic, health status, and psychosocial data at the initial ED visit. Medication adherence and knowledge of red flag symptoms were assessed via phone survey. Care use and comorbidities were abstracted from medical records. We performed multivariate regressions for intention-to-treat and per-protocol (PP) analyses. RESULTS: Participant characteristics (N = 1,756) were similar across groups: mean age 72.4 ± 8.6 years and 53% female. Of those randomized to the intervention, 84% completed the home visit. Overall, 12.4% of participants returned to the ED within 30 days. The CTI did not significantly affect odds of 30-day ED revisits (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.72 to 1.30) or medication adherence (AOR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.60 to 1.32). Participants receiving the CTI (PP) had increased odds of in-person follow-up with outpatient clinicians during the week following discharge (AOR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.01 to 1.51) and recalling at least one red flag from ED discharge instructions (AOR = 1.34 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.71). CONCLUSIONS: The CTI did not reduce 30-day ED revisits but did significantly increase key care transition behaviors (outpatient follow-up, red flag knowledge). Additional research is needed to explore if patients with different conditions benefit more from the CTI and whether decreasing ED revisits is the most appropriate outcome for all older adults.

Predictors of Older Adult Adherence With Emergency Department Discharge Instructions.

OBJECTIVE: Older adults discharged from the emergency department (ED) are at high risk for adverse outcomes. Adherence to ED discharge instructions is necessary to reduce those risks. The objective of this study is to determine the individual-level factors associated with adherence with ED discharge instructions among older adult ED outpatients. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of data from the control group of a randomized controlled trial testing a care transitions intervention among older adults (age ≥ 60 years) discharged home from the ED in two states. Taking data from patient surveys and chart reviews, we used multivariable logistic regression to identify patient characteristics associated with adherence to printed discharge instructions. Outcomes were patient-reported medication adherence, provider follow-up visit adherence, and knowledge of "red flags" (signs of worsening health requiring further medical attention). RESULTS: A total 824 patients were potentially eligible, and 699 had data in at least one pillar. A total of 35% adhered to medication instructions, 76% adhered to follow-up instructions, and 35% recalled at least one red flag. In the multivariate analysis, no factors were significantly associated with failure to adhere to medications. Participants with poor health status (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.31 to 0.98) were less likely to adhere to follow-up instructions. Participants who were older (AORs trended downward as age category increased) or depressed (AOR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.17 to 0.85) or had one or more functional limitations (AOR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.41 to 0.94) were less likely to recall red flags. CONCLUSION: Older adults discharged home from the ED have mixed rates of adherence to discharge instructions. Although it is thought that some subgroups may be higher risk than others, given the opportunity to improve ED-to-home transitions, EDs and health systems should consider providing additional care transition support to all older adults discharged home from the ED.

Association between social isolation and outpatient follow-up in older adults following emergency department discharge.

OBJECTIVES: Follow-up with outpatient clinicians after discharge from the emergency department (ED) reduces adverse outcomes among older adults, but rates are suboptimal. Social isolation, a common factor associated with poor health outcomes, may help explain these low rates. This study evaluates social isolation as a predictor of outpatient follow-up after discharge from the ED. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cohort study uses the control group from a randomized-controlled trial investigating a community paramedic-delivered Care Transitions Intervention with older patients (age≥60 years) at three EDs in mid-sized cities. Social Isolation scores were measured at baseline using the PROMIS 4-item social isolation questionnaire, grouped into tertiles for analysis. Chart abstraction was conducted to identify follow-up with outpatient primary or specialty healthcare providers and method of contact within 7 and 30 days of discharge. RESULTS: Of 642 patients, highly socially-isolated adults reported significantly worse overall health, as well as increased anxiety, depressive symptoms, functional limitations, and co-morbid conditions compared to those less socially-isolated (p<0.01). We found no effect of social isolation on 30-day follow-up. Patients with high social isolation, however, were 37% less likely to follow-up with a provider in-person within 7 days of ED discharge compared to low social isolation (OR:0.63, 95% CI:0.42-0.96). CONCLUSION: This study adds to our understanding of how and when socially-isolated older adults seek outpatient care following ED discharge. Increased social isolation was not significantly associated with all-contact follow-up rates after ED discharge. However, patients reporting higher social isolation had lower rates of in-person follow-up in the week following ED discharge.

Improving the ED-to-Home Transition: The Community Paramedic-Delivered Care Transitions Intervention-Preliminary Findings.

OBJECTIVES: To describe a novel model of care that uses community-based paramedics to deliver a modified version of the evidence-based hospital-to-home Care Transitions Intervention (CTI) to a new context: the emergency department (ED)-to-home transition. DESIGN: Single-blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Three EDs in 2 cities. PARTICIPANTS: Through June 2017, 422 individuals discharged home from the EDs who provided consent and were randomized to receive the modified CTI. INTERVENTION: We modified the hospital-to-home CTI, applying it to the ED-to-home transition and delivering services through community paramedics, allowing the program to benefit from the unique attributes of paramedics to deliver care. MEASUREMENTS: Through surveys of participants, medical record review, and documentation of activities by CTI coaches, we characterize the participants and program, including feasibility and acceptability. RESULTS: Median age of participants was 70.7, 241 (57.1%) were female, and 385 (91.2%) were white. Coaches successfully completed 354 (83.9%) home visits and 92.7% of planned telephone follow-up for call 1, 90.9% for call 2, and 85.8% for call 3. We found high levels of acceptability among participants, with most participants (76.2%) and their caregivers (83.1%) reporting themselves likely or extremely likely to choose an ED featuring the CTI program in the future. Coaches reported delivering expected services during contact at least 88% of the time. CONCLUSION: Although final conclusions about program effectiveness must await the results of the randomized controlled trial, the findings reported here are promising and provide preliminary support for an ED-to-home CTI Program's ability to improve outcomes. The coaches' identity as community paramedics is particularly noteworthy, because this is a unique role for this provider type. J Am Geriatr Soc 66:2213-2220, 2018.

A randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of a paramedic-delivered care transitions intervention to reduce emergency department revisits.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 20% of community-dwelling older adults discharged from the emergency department (ED) return to an ED within 30 days, an occurrence partially resulting from poor care transitions. Prior published interventions to improve the ED-to-home transition have either lacked feasibility or effectiveness. The Care Transitions Intervention (CTI) has been validated to decrease rehospitalization among patients transitioning from the hospital to the home but has never been tested for patients transitioning from the ED to the home. Paramedics, traditionally involved only in emergency care, are well-positioned to deliver the CTI, but have never been previously evaluated in this role. METHODS: This single-blinded randomized controlled trial tests whether the paramedic-delivered ED-to-home CTI reduces community-dwelling older adults' ED revisits in the 30 days after an index visit. We are prospectively recruiting patients aged≥ 60 years at 3 EDs in Rochester, NY and Madison, WI to enroll 2400 patient subjects. Subjects are randomized into control and treatment groups, with the latter receiving the adapted CTI. The intervention consists of the paramedic performing one home visit and up to three follow-up phone calls. During these interactions, the paramedic follows the CTI approach by coaching patients toward their goals, with a focus on their personal health record, medication management, red flags, and primary care follow-up. We follow patient participants for 30 days. All receive a survey during the index ED visit to capture baseline demographic and health information and two telephone-based surveys to assess process objectives and outcomes. We also perform a medical record review. The primary outcome is the odds of ED revisit within 30 days after discharge from the index ED visit. DISCUSSION: This is the first study to test whether the CTI, applied to the ED-to-home transition and delivered by community paramedics, can decrease the rate at which older adults revisit an ED. Outcomes from this research will help address a major emergency care challenge by supporting older adults in the transition from the ED to home, thereby improving health outcomes for this population and reducing potentially avoidable ED visits. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Registration: NCT02520661 . Trial registration date: August 13, 2015.