Extensivist: improving the delivery of enhanced health in older people's care homes

Older people living in care homes are often frail and clinically complex. The Enhanced Health in Care Homes (EHCH) framework supports organisational and clinical strategies to deliver good care, promoting proactive person-centred care by whole system collaboration. We evaluate the impact of a new role, the Extensivist, in the delivery of EHCH for older people living in care homes.

To evaluate implementation processes and the clinical utility of the Extensivist in older people care homes in the London borough of Southwark.

The Extensivist (Band 8a Advanced Nurse Specialist skilled in frail older people) was embedded within the care home general practitioners (GP) service for a 2-year pilot (2019-2021). Implementation processes were evaluated. Impact of the Extensivist role was evaluated by the number of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) completed, interventions and other clinical activity performed as well as qualitative case studies and semistructured feedback from care home workers and professionals.

The Extensivist feasibly delivered CGA and implemented intervention plans. The role iteratively developed to support wider aspects of care including advance care planning (ACP) and training. Challenges included building trust, the time-consuming nature of CGA, ACP and coordinated communication. Case studies and semistructured feedback indicated the role was considered valuable in the delivery of clinical care, supporting residents, families, care homes and GPs and as a resource for education for care home workers.

The Extensivist is a valuable resource and a linchpin in the delivery of EHCH framework in care homes for older adults in Southwark. Further evaluations to assess reproducibility in other areas of the UK are warranted.