Age-friendly care for older adults within rural Australian health systems: An integrative review

To identify the core elements of interventions and models that facilitate age-friendly care for older adults within rural Australian health systems, and assess the extent to which these align with core elements of the Institute for Health Improvement's (IHI) Age-Friendly Health Systems 4Ms Model.

Peer-reviewed journal articles examining core elements of Australian rural geriatric care models were collected and analysed using an integrative review methodology.

Identified models and interventions addressed all four core elements of the IHI model-what matters, medications, mobility and mentation. There was more evidence relating to mobility and mentation, with lesser evidence relating to medications and what matters. A series of core elements not aligned with the model were also identified.

The IHI 4Ms Model appears to be applicable in the rural Australian context. More high-quality, systematic evidence is needed to investigate the core elements of age-friendly care across diverse rural contexts.