Integrated care pathways for frail older people: An ethnographic study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving integrated care for older people with frailty and their carers: An ethnographic study of medicines-related care within an integrated care pathway.
IRAS ID
243373
Contact name
Jane Sandall
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Frailty is a condition in which the older person becomes vulnerable to health problems affecting their ability to get about in their daily activities. Older people with frailty commonly take multiple medications and are likely to be living with multiple long-term conditions leading to varying levels of disabilities. Consequently, they often require a range of health and social care services. Existing health and social care services for older people with frailty lack co-ordination leading to poor quality of care. In the UK there is a national drive to use integrated care pathways (ICPs) for older people with frailty, which integrate health and social care delivered by multi-disciplinary teams along a coordinated care pathway. Although a number of ICPs for frail older people are being developed, evaluated and commissioned locally in the UK, little is known about service users’ and carers’ involvement in integrated care provision for older people with frailty and how they experience integrated care in practice. This study will explore how a group of older people with frailty and their carers in Lambeth and Southwark experience, manage and influence their medicines-related care within an ICP.
The study involves observations of care practices, document analysis (local and national policy documents) and interviews with 10-15 older patients with frailty, 10-15 of their carers and 15 health and social care professionals involved in their medicines-related care within an ICP. The ICP used for older people with frailty will start from their admission to an Emergency Department care setting at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT). A purposive sample of older patients with frailty and their carers, health and social care professionals from GSTT and other professionals such as community pharmacists, GPs and voluntary care workers will be recruited. The information generated in this study will be used to inform improvements in medicines-related care delivered within an ICP.REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0987
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jun 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion