Objective To develop and evaluate a best practice model of general hospital acute medical care for older people with cognitive impairment.Design Randomised controlled trial, adapted to take account of constraints imposed by a busy acute medical admission system. Setting Large acute general hospital in the United Kingdom.Participants 600 patients aged over 65 admitted for acute medical care, identified as "confused" on admission.Interventions Participants were randomised to a specialist medical and mental health unit, designed to deliver best practice care for people with delirium or dementia, or to standard care (acute geriatric or general medical wards). Features of the specialist unit included joint staffing by medical and mental health professionals; enhanced staff training in delirium, dementia, and person centred dementia care; provision of organised purposeful activity; environmental modification to meet the needs of those with cognitive impairment; delirium prevention; and a proactive and inclusive approach to family carers.

Background/Objectives: Older adults with dementia have at least a twofold increased risk of falls. Multi-factorial interventions have failed to demonstrate a reduction in falls in this group. Improved understanding of specific cognitive factors and their relationship to gait, balance and falls is required. Methods: Systematic searches of Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, and CINAHL databases from inception to April 2011 were conducted to identify prospective studies in older adults examining executive function and its relationship with falls, balance and gait abnormalities. Two independent reviewers extracted data on study populations, executive function measures and study outcomes. Results: Of 8,985 abstracts identified, 14 studies met inclusion criteria. Eleven studies examined executive function and falls. The remaining studies examined executive function and gait speed decline. Nine studies examining executive function and falls found a relationship between poor executive function and increased fall risk. All 3 studies examining executive function and gait found an association between poor executive function and declines in gait speed. Impaired executive function was associated with more serious falling patterns. Conclusions: Executive function was associated with falls and gait speed slowing in older adults. Future research should consider executive dysfunction as a training target for fall prevention, or as a factor mediating the failure of conventional fall prevention interventions.

The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the over 50 age group is increasing as a consequence of younger adults ageing with HIV, in addition to new diagnoses in later life. We conducted searches in MEDLINE for English language studies published between January 1984 and January 2010 using search terms 'HIV', 'AIDS', 'HIV testing' and 'HIV complications' and selected articles relevant to adults aged 50 years and over. The prevalence, natural history and complications of HIV infection and treatment in older adults are reviewed. In 2007 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States reported that 16.8% of new diagnoses of HIV that year were in individuals aged over 50 years. Older adults are vulnerable to late or missed diagnosis, and poorer treatment outcomes, due to the misconception that they are not at risk. A heightened awareness of HIV as a possible diagnosis in older adults is becoming increasingly important. As the HIV population ages, the emergence of disease and treatment complications such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and dementia are evident. Management of older adults with HIV and multiple co-morbidities presents challenges to infectious diseases physicians and geriatricians alike. Inclusion of older adults in future HIV clinical trials will help design healthcare models to provide for this growing population.

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BackgroundPeople with dementia progressively lose abilities and are prone to falling. Exercise- and activity-based interventions hold the prospect of increasing abilities, reducing falls, and slowing decline in cognition. Current falls prevention approaches are poorly suited to people with dementia, however, and are of uncertain effectiveness. We used multiple sources, and a co-production approach, to develop a new intervention, which we will evaluate in a feasibility randomised controlled trial (RCT), with embedded adherence, process and economic analyses.MethodsWe will recruit people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia from memory assessment clinics, and a family member or carer. We will randomise participants between a therapy programme with high intensity supervision over 12 months, a therapy programme with moderate intensity supervision over 3 months, and brief falls assessment and advice as a control intervention. The therapy programmes will be delivered at home by mental health specialist therapists and therapy assistants. We will measure activities of daily living, falls and a battery of intermediate and distal health status outcomes, including activity, balance, cognition, mood and quality of life. The main aim is to test recruitment and retention, intervention delivery, data collection and other trial processes in advance of a planned definitive RCT. We will also study motivation and adherence, and conduct a process evaluation to help understand why results occurred using mixed methods, including a qualitative interview study and scales measuring psychological, motivation and communication variables. We will undertake an economic study, including modelling of future impact and cost to end-of-life, and a social return on investment analysis.DiscussionIn this study, we aim to better understand the practicalities of both intervention and research delivery, and to generate substantial new knowledge on motivation, adherence and the approach to economic analysis. This will enable us to refine a novel intervention to promote activity and safety after a diagnosis of dementia, which will be evaluated in a definitive randomised controlled trial.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02874300; ISRCTN 10550694.

Overall, multicomponent interventions incorporating both physical and cognitive components demonstrated positive effects on balance, functional mobility and gait speed when compared with a control and had significantly better effect on balance and gait speed within mild cognitive impairment populations.

The calculated 10 year risk for MO fracture between FRAX and QFracture was similar, whereas that of HI fracture was significantly different. The agreement to treatment between QFracture-20/3 and FRAX-NOGG was only 45%. Treatment decisions can differ depending on the fracture calculation tool used when coupled with certain intervention thresholds or guidelines.

Background Twenty-five per cent of hospital beds are occupied by a person living with dementia. Dementia affects expressive communication and understanding. Health-care professionals report a lack of communication skills training. Objectives To identify teachable, effective strategies for communication between health-care professionals and people living with dementia, and to develop and evaluate a communication skills training course. Design We undertook a systematic literature review, video-recorded 41 encounters between staff and people with dementia, and used conversation analysis to investigate communication problems and solutions. We designed a communication skills training course using coproduction and multiple pedagogic approaches. We ran a pilot, followed by six courses for health-care professionals. We measured knowledge, confidence and communication behaviours before, immediately after and 1 month after the course, and undertook interviews with participants and managers. Behaviours were measured using blind-rated videos of simulations. Setting General hospital acute geriatric medical wards and two hospital clinical skills centres. Participants We video-recorded 26 people with dementia and 26 professionals. Ten experts in dementia care, education, simulation and communication contributed to intervention development. Six health-care professionals took part in a pilot course, and 45 took part in the training. Results The literature review identified 26 studies describing 10 communication strategies, with modest evidence of effectiveness. Health-care professional-initiated encounters followed a predictable phase structure. Problems were apparent in requests (with frequent refusals) and in closings. Success was more likely when requests were made directly, with high entitlement (authority to ask) and with lowered contingencies (made to sound less difficult, by minimising the extent or duration of the task, asking patients ‘to try’, offering help or proposing collaborative action). Closings were more successful if the health-care professional announced the end of the task, made a specific arrangement, body language matched talk, and through use of ‘closing idioms’. The training course comprised 2 days, 1 month apart, using experiential learning, including lectures, video workshops, small group discussions, simulations (with specially trained actors) and reflections. We emphasised the incorporation of previous expertise and commitment to person-centred care. Forty-four participants returned for the second training day and 43 provided complete evaluation data. Knowledge and confidence both increased. Some behaviours, especially relating to closings, were more commonly used after training. The course was rated highly in interviews, especially the use of simulations, real-life video clips and interdisciplinary learning. Participants reported that they found the methods useful in practice and were using them 1 month after the course finished. Limitations Data were from people with moderate to severe dementia, in an acute hospital, during health-care professional-initiated interactions. Analysis was limited to problems and solutions that were likely to be ‘trainable’. Actors required careful preparation to simulate people with dementia. Communication skills training course participants were volunteers, unlikely to be representative of the general workforce, who displayed high levels of baseline knowledge, confidence and skills. Before-and-after evaluations, and qualitative interviews, are prone to bias. Conclusions Requests and closings pose particular difficulties for professionals communicating with people with dementia. We identified solutions to these problems and incorporated them into communication skills training, which improved knowledge, confidence and some communication behaviours. Simulation was an effective training modality. Future work Further research should investigate a wider range of health, social care and family carers. Conversation analysis should be used to investigate other aspects of health-care communication. Study registration The systematic literature review is registered as CRD42015023437. Funding The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.