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BackgroundPatient participation is a key concern in health care. Nevertheless, older patients often do not feel involved in their rehabilitation process. Research states that when organizational conditions exert pressure on the work situation, care as a mere technical activity seems to be prioritized by the health‐care staff, at the expense of patient involvement.ObjectiveThe aim of this article is to explore how health‐care professionals experience patient participation in IC services, and explain how they perform their clinical work balancing between the patient's needs, available resources and regulatory constraints.DesignUsing a framework of professional work and institutional logics, underpinned by critical realism, we conducted semi‐structured interviews with 18 health‐care professionals from three IC institutions.ResultsIC appears as an important service in the patient pathway for older people with a great potential for patient participation. However, health care staff may experience constraints that prohibit them from using professional discretion, which is perceived as a threat to patient participation. Further, they may adopt routines that simplify their interactions with patients. Our results call for more emphasis on an individualized rehabilitation process and a recognition that psychological and social aspects are critical for patient participation in IC.ConclusionPatients interact in the face of conflicting institutional priorities or protocols. The study adds important knowledge about the practice of patient participation in IC from a front‐line provider perspective. Underlying mechanisms are identified to understand and recommend how to facilitate patient participation at different levels in narrowing the gap between policy and clinical work in IC.

ObjectivesThe primary aim of this study is to describe depression and physical function in nursing home residents with dementia, as well as to examine the associations between depression and balance function, lower limb muscle strength, mobility and activities of daily living. The secondary aim is to examine the differences in physical function between the groups classified as depressed and not depressed.DesignThe study has a cross-sectional design.SettingA convenience sample of 18 nursing homes in, and around, Oslo, Norway, participated.ParticipantsWe included 170 nursing home residents aged 60–100 years with mild or moderate degree of dementia defined by a score of 1 or 2 on the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR).Outcome measuresAssessments used were Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), ‘the 6-metre walking test’ (walking speed), 30 s Chair Stand Test (CST) and the Barthel Index (BI).ResultsNursing home residents with dementia are a heterogeneous group in terms of physical function and depression. By applying the recommended cut-off of ≥8 on CSDD, 23.5% of the participants were classified as being depressed. The results revealed significant associations between higher scores on CSDD (indicating more symptoms of depression) and lower scores on BBS (95% CI −0.12 to −0.02, p=0.006), 30 s CST (95% CI −0.54 to −0.07, p=0.001) as well as maximum walking speed (95% CI −4.56 to −0.20, p=0.003) (indicating lower level of physical function).ConclusionBetter muscle strength, balance and higher walking speed were significantly associated with less depressive symptoms. The potential interaction of dementia with poor physical function and depression indicates an area to explore in future epidemiological studies with a prospective design.Trial registration numberNCT02262104.

Geriatric patients in intermediate care (IC) often do not feel involved in their rehabilitation process. We conducted interviews with 15 patients and 12 relatives to explore their experiences and preferences regarding patient participation in IC and identify types of patient participation and their potential empowering or disempowering effect. The analysis disclosed a lack of patient choice in a predetermined IC pathway. Being deserving of help meant being sick enough and was associated with the compliant patient who fits the system. Some main additional features were the need of a rehabilitation perspective and patient engagement to enable coproduction as well as the important contribution of relatives as advocates and allies. Finally, the results show the patients’ vulnerable voice in the meeting with the experts’ views. The study will add important knowledge on how staff can contribute to the tailoring of good interventions in IC and improve the understanding of underlying structures.

Family meetings are a cornerstone in intermediate care (IC) and a powerful tool in achieving patient participation. Staff in IC are nevertheless uncertain about how to run these meetings. This study explores the negotiation of patient participation in 14 family meetings by observing the interactions between patients, relatives, and staff. Using Goffman’s dramaturgical theory, supplemented by positioning theory, we illustrate, through four cases, how the participants negotiate their opinions by enacting positions like performer, director, audience, and nonperson. Patient participation takes place when the family meetings are characterized by respect and empathy, when the staff restore and elicit patients’ and relatives’ preferences, and there exist real alternative outcomes of the meetings. The emphasis should be on meeting structure, group composition, and preparation of the patient team. The findings are valuable for staff, patient organizations, and policy makers responsible for program development and tools to optimize patient participation within family meetings.