The Older Person in Transition: <I>Implications for Pathways of Transitions of Care</I>

Abstract

Older adults face many care transitions and often have diffi culty navigating a complex, fragmented health care system. Health care providers, older adults, and their caregivers face challenges in communicating effectively during care transitions. Suboptimal care during transitions can lead to poor patient satisfaction, clinical deterioration, and unplanned use of health services such as return to the acute care setting shortly after discharge from the hospital. This chapter highlights characteristics older adults bring to the health care experience, with special attention given to those characteristics that make them more vulnerable to transitions of care problems in contrast to other age groups. This chapter also discusses issues that lead to care fragmentation and increased numbers of care transitions among older adults. Lastly, this chapter makes recommendations to address and reduce the fragmentation in care delivery for older adults. Ultimately, the implications for pathways of transitions of care are addressed in this chapter.

Older patients&#39; experiences during care transition

“… 3 Older people are large consumers of health care services, which leave them vulnerable to adverse incidents and make them a target for alterations to reduce medical costs. 6 – 9 To meet the needs and preferences of older patients better, research has altered focus from a health-administrative perspective on care transition to the patients’ experiences of the continuity of care during care transition. 10 , 11 Theories such as person-centered care, based on values of mutual respect, self-determination, and understanding, have been widely acknowledged.…”

Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Care Transitions Measure (CTM-15) in Iranian Older People

“…This methodological study was conducted during 2021-2022 in three general hospitals affiliated to Guilan University of Medical Sciences. The questionnaire was first translated into Persian based on the IQOLA protocol [11]. Then, face validity and content validity were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively.…”