What are the Clinical and Social Outcomes of Integrated Care for Older People? A Qualitative Systematic Review

Older people with multiple chronic conditions have most to gain from successful integrated care models but there is a need to understand current evidence of outcomes for older people.

A qualitative meta-aggregation method was used for the review. Systematic searching of CINAHL, PubMed (Medline), Web of Science, PsycINFO, Scopus and Cochrane identified an initial 93 papers, of which 27 were reviewed. Studies were selected according to the pre-defined protocol and quality assessed using The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools (JBIQARI). Eleven, peer-reviewed, English-language papers published between 2000 to 2020 were included.

Thirty-three findings were extracted and aggregated into six categories. Three synthesised statements were identified denoting outcomes of integrated care for older people. These indicate social participation and connectedness for older people and their families; the older person feeling motivated to engage in health goals when their preferences were taken into consideration; and older people experiencing support and wellbeing when a therapeutic relationship with a key worker is established.

There was scant evidence of the older person's voice within included studies and a limited focus on outcomes. Stronger evidence is needed to provide meaningful and robust evaluation of outcomes within integrated care models for the older person.