Patient satisfaction and early geriatric follow-up after discharge in older acute medical patients

6^th World Nursing and Healthcare Conference

August 15-17, 2016 London, UK

Merete Gregersen

Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Geriatrics, Denmark

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Objectives: �Early geriatric follow-up after discharge� is a care model designed to create a safe transition from hospital to home by adding a follow-up visit in the patient�s home within 24 hours after discharge. Patient satisfaction is of major importance to evaluate health care services. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare patient satisfaction after early geriatric follow-up with that of usual care after discharge. Materials and methods: The target population was 75+ years� medical patients acutely admitted to an emergency department. Consecutive admission days were randomized to intervention or control. Admitted eligible patients belonged to the assigned day�s strategy. A quantitative 14- item satisfaction questionnaire, based on semi-structured interviews, was mailed to all cognitively well-functioning patients in both groups 2-4 weeks after discharge. The themes of importance were: feeling safe at home, receiving sufficient information, experiencing good communication between health care professionals, involvement in care decisions, and relatives� involvement. Each question was evaluated by a 5-point Likert scale. The patients, who did not respond within 14 days, were reminded by phone and offered assistance to fill out the questionnaire. Results: In total, 173 out of 272 patients (64%) returned their questionnaire. Baseline characteristics of the groups were similar. More patients in the intervention group were satisfied with the early geriatric follow-up compared to the patients who received usual care. More women were non-responders than men. Conclusion: Older medical patients acutely admitted to hospital were more satisfied with early geriatric follow-up than usual followup after discharge.

Biography :

Merete Gregersen is nurse and master of health science, and has completed her Ph.D. in 2015 from Aarhus University. She is involved in many of the clinical research areas in the Department of Geriatrics e.g. orthogeriatrics, oncogeriatrics, and organizational improvements in the acute older medical patients. She has published 16 papers in scientific journals and has reviewed several journal submissions.

Email: meregreg@rm.dk