Older people in accident and emergency departments

Older people attend accident and emergency departments more frequently than younger people. However, most assessments indicate that this higher level of use is appropriate and is the result of more serious injury and illness among this population. Older patients discharged from accident and emergency departments are frequently functionally impaired with serious impacts upon their ability to perform activities of daily living. Despite this, relatively little attention has been paid to interventions to improve older patients' ability to self-care after discharge from accident and emergency departments. One study has suggested that dependency can be reduced by health visitor intervention. Targeted bi-disciplinary interventions have been demonstrated to reduce the risk of recurrent falls in elderly patients discharged from accident and emergency departments.