The experience of being an older patient on a hospital ward
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The experience of being an older patient on a hospital ward: engagement in activity during a typical day
IRAS ID
115311
Contact name
Marion Martin
Contact email
Research summary
For over thirty years evidence has shown that a large proportion of older people on hospital wards decline during their admission and never recover the abilities they had before they were admitted. The majority of this group will not return to their own homes and a significant number will die prematurely. This results in very high costs for health and social care budgets.
This research is an initial phase of a larger study to investigate ways to prevent this decline. As a first phase, this research will examine the patient experience in hospital, in terms of their daily activities, and will discuss with them possible ways of enhancing this experience for patient benefit, for example by engaging in meaningful activities.
There is almost no research to show how older people experience their stay in hospital so this research will allow for possible reasons for this decline to be explored from the patient’s perspective.
This research proposes to interview a number of older people on hospital wards to find out about how they pass the day in hospital, and what their feelings are about how they spend their time.
It is hoped that findings may inform interprofessional hospital teams about the experiences of older people during admission, which in turn might both identify avenues for further research and suggest possible ways of improving outcomes.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
13/NS/0091
Date of REC Opinion
2 Aug 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion