Swaying Information about Care: Information-Sharing Challenges in Transitional Care of Older Adults

Abstract

Purpose: Despite the increasing importance of elderly care due to the aging global population, few studies have addressed information-sharing challenges in transitioning older adults between hospitals and care facilities. Medical facilities upstream primarily exchange information about treatment, whereas downstream care houses necessitate information to aid in maintaining or improving quality of life. Due to the lack of clarity surrounding the issues in information sharing from upstream to downstream, this exploratory study was conducted to identify the types of problems, primarily focused on the hospital discharge process. Methods: This study conducted mixed-method research (interview, questionnaire, follow-up interview) involving staff in both types of facilities. Three investigations were conducted to identify the challenges of information sharing. Results: The quantitative results showed a subjective assessment indicating that the information-sharing process was not functioning adequately overall. The qualitative findings underscored challenges in sharing information to support caregiving and quality of life rather than medical information for treatment. We revealed the absence of appropriate sharing methods, the failure to share information other than current medical information, and the fact that certain information can only be shared orally. Moreover, due to their different nature and roles, hospitals and care facilities consider different types of information important. Conclusion: One of the empirical contributions was the cognition that the sharing of individual information items was not insufficient but that there was a lack of information as a whole. Our findings will contribute to research on aging issues and support for older adults in health information research communities.