What matters to frail older people (and their carers) in primary care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Addressing what matters to frail older people and their informal carers in primary care based clinical encounters and contacts
IRAS ID
199972
Contact name
K Spilsbury
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
Working with frail older adults is an increasingly important aspect of primary care based practice, but one where education and training have not kept pace with the need for a sensitive, skilled workforce. In many areas of health care, communication and elicitation of patients’ preferences is a particular challenge. The challenges for health care professionals in recognising frailty among older people are recognised. Whether frail older adults, and their informal carers, perceive communication with their professional carers to be a wider problem, is unknown. The aim of this study (one of five linked studies funded by NIHR CLAHRC) is to inform the development of initiatives to improve the experiences and outcomes of primary care based contacts/ consultations between health care professionals and frail older adults and their informal carers.
We propose three stages of work. First, we will conduct a systematic scoping review of the literature to ‘map’ relevant literature addressing (i) what matters to frail older people, and their informal carers, in their clinical encounters with primary care based practitioners and (ii) understand the priorities and challenges for primary care based practitioners when consulting with frail older people and their informal carers. We will use the findings of these reviews to inform our qualitative inquiry of (i) what matters to frail older people, and their informal carers, in their clinical encounters with primary care based practitioners and (ii) understand the priorities and challenges for primary care based practitioners when consulting with frail older people and their informal carers. The final stage of this work will be a workshop with practitioners. The workshop will feedback findings from Stage 1 and 2 and areas that we have identified as priority areas for practice development to meet the needs of frail older people and their carers. We will use the workshop to (i) gather the response of practitioners to these findings, (ii) gather data on what support health professionals consider they need to better meet these needs and (iii) gather ideas of what resources might be most useful for practitioners to promote best practice in care frail of older people in primary care.
REC name
North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0388
Date of REC Opinion
13 May 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion