Collaboration, facilities and communities in day care services for older people

Collaborative working in care for older people is often seen as a desirable goal. However, there can be problems with this approach. This paper reports on a single blind randomized controlled trial which was carried out to compare outcomes of rehabilitation in two settings: a day hospital and social services day centres augmented by visiting therapists. The subjects were 105 older patients. Principal outcome measures were the Barthel Index, Philadelphia Geriatric Centre Morale Scale and the Caregiver Strain Index. Two aspects of the trial are examined here. Firstly, we investigated whether trial patients were more disabled than regular day centre attendees. Levels of health and well being amongst trial patients were compared with those of a random sample of 20 regular attendees from both of the participating day centres and an additional voluntary sector day centre. Secondly, key staff from the different settings were interviewed to assess how well the day centre model had worked in practice. Trial patients were significantly more disabled than regular day centre attendees according to the Barthel Index (P < 0.001), but this difference was no longer significant after three months of treatment. The day centre model had several problems, principally discharge policy, acceptability, facilities and attitudes of staff and regular attendees. Positive aspects of the day centre model, as well as successful rehabilitation, included shared skills, knowledge and resources. This paper suggests that collaborative working in day centres requires multipurpose facilities. If health staff maintain a permanent presence, benefits can include improved joint working, easier access to health care and the use of rehabilitative therapy as a preventative strategy. Day care settings can be analyzed as representing different types of communities. Allowing older users a greater degree of choice in facilities may increase the acceptability of care.