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Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
Patients' and caregivers' perspectives in determining discharge readiness from home health
Melissa O'Connor1, Helene Moriarty2, Anne Schneider3
1M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Driscoll Hall #316, Villanova PA 19085, United States; Gerontology Interest Group, Villanova University, M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, United States; NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, United States; Fellow, Betty Irene Moore Fellowships for Nurse Leaders and Innovators, United States.
Abstract:
There are no national, empirically derived clinical decision support tools to assist the interprofessional home health team in determining readiness for discharge from skilled home health. Eliciting patient and family caregiver perspectives around readiness for home health discharge is integral to developing tools that address their needs in this decision-making process. The purpose of this study was to describe the factors home health patients and their family caregivers perceive as critical when determining readiness for discharge from services. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted among skilled home health recipients and their family caregivers who were either recently discharged or recertified for additional care from two different Medicare-certified skilled home health agencies. Nine themes emerged: self-care ability, functional status, status of condition(s) and symptoms, presence of a caregiver, support for the caregiver, connection to community resources/support, safety needs of the home environment addressed, adherence to the prescribed regimen, and care coordination.
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