Older adults' experiences of being discharged home from hospital V.1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The experience of older adults being discharged home from a community hospital.
IRAS ID
245024
Contact name
Channine Clarke
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Brighton
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 30 days
Research summary
In 2012-2013 there were more than 1 million emergency readmissions within 30 days of discharge costing an estimated £2.4 billion (Healthwatch England 2015). A quarter of those readmitted reported not feeling ready to be discharged (Royal Voluntary Service 2014). Readmission rates for adults aged 75+ has grown by 86%, which is greater than the ageing population trends (Royal Voluntary Service 2014). Redmond (2017:1) argues that “listening to and learning from people’s experiences will provide the best measure of how discharge is working”.The research proposed will follow these recommendations to speak with patients, focusing on older adults which Redmond (2017) and others have identified as an at-risk group. Non-surgical patients will be chosen as there is a gap in research studies for this cohort.
The purpose of the study is to gain a greater understanding of how discharge is experienced by older adults. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)(Smith, Flowers and Larkin, 2009) has been chosen as the qualitative research approach.
Members of the direct healthcare team based on 2 wards in a community hospital will send out letters to potential participants following their discharge from hospital. The letter will contain an invitation to participate, a participant information sheet, a consent form and a stamped addressed envelope. Following informed consent, 6 participants will be interviewed in their home about their experience of being discharged. This will be a one off interview lasting approximately an hour. The interview will be recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data will be coded and themes identified. Anonymised accounts will be used in the final discussion to add depth and bring life to the phenomena.
It is hoped the research findings will contribute to increased empathy and understanding amongst health care professionals of how discharge is experienced by older adults and may contribute to improved patient centred care.REC name
London - Harrow Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1913
Date of REC Opinion
6 Dec 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion