Service delivery: what works for older people?
19th January 2022
Researchers based at the Cicely Saunders Institute have investigated common elements in effective geriatric specialist care, and palliative care services. The team wanted to identify aspects of care that met patients’ needs the best. They also wanted to find out if including these aspects in care is cost-effective.
Some key aspects of successful and cost-effective care were:
- Patient engagement: patients are well-informed and participate in decisions about their care;
- Goals of care: healthcare professionals help patients develop their own goals, so that patients actively visualise these goals and participate in their own care;
- Workforce capacity: there are skilled multidisciplinary teams available with sufficient resources (skills, training and team capacity) to meet patients’ individual needs.
The researchers conclude that a focus on these areas prevents functional decline and improves quality of life for people with advanced disease, irrespective of prognosis. The findings also help service providers understand what quality of life oriented care looks like, and how important, and often low-cost, changes to care are effective.
Bayly J, Bone AE, Ellis-Smith C, Tunnard I, Yaqub S, Yi D, Nkhoma KB, Cook A, Combes S, Bajwah S, Harding R, Nicholson C, Normand C, Ahuja S, Turrillas P, Kizawa Y, Morita T, Nishiyama N, Tsuneto S, Ong P, Higginson IJ, Evans CJ, Maddocks M.
BMJ Open. 2021 Dec 1;11(12):e048417. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048417.
PMID: 34853100