Primary care experience among older adults in the United States: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Characteristics of programmes designed to link community-dwelling older adults in high-income countries from community to clinical sectors: a scoping review protocol

“…Older adults frequently have multiple chronic conditions,3 the management of which should be by a primary care provider 4. However, older adults in the USA report challenges in establishing a first point of contact with primary care5 or actually seeing the primary care provider to which they are administratively assigned 6. Many instead turn to emergency departments for care, which is expensive and inefficient 7.…”

“…Responding to this mandate, community–clinic linkage models (CCLMs) aim to improve population health13 through ‘partnerships to help connect healthcare providers, community organisations and public health agencies so that they can improve patients’ access to preventive care, chronic care and social services’ 14. Given that older adults are more likely to have multiple chronic conditions,4 report challenges in establishing a first point of contact with primary care,5 and highly likely to affiliate with the community sector,15 16 focusing attention on community–clinic linkages for older adults, are highly worthwhile. Creating CCLMs that are accessible to older adults by enabling independent selection of healthcare services, effectively conveying information about these services and navigating the healthcare system is an essential component of making person-centred community-based healthcare accessible to older adults 17…”

“…A 2023 systematic review of the effectiveness of system navigation programmes linking primary care with community-based health and social services for older adults restricts its analysis to programmes that are initiated in the primary care setting 26. Given the challenges that older adults experience in entering the health system to receive primary care,5 8 this is an alarming gap in the literature.…”