Older Persons' Transitions in Care (OPTIC)
Start/End Dates: 2009 - 2012
Investigators/Collaborators/Advisors: Greta Cummings (PI), Joanne Konnert (Co-PI), Carole A. Estabrooks, Peter Norton, Cathy Reid, et al.
Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Grant Amount: $980, 000
The purpose of this program of research is to improve care for frail elderly residents in nursing homes and secondarily, to reduce the burden of elderly patients on Emergency Department resources. We will provide decision makers with tools to identify potentially modifiable elements to improve quality of care for residents who move between nursing homes and Emergency Departments.
The objectives of this project are to:
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Define the multiple perspectives of successful and unsuccessful transitions, and develop and test a practical tool to assess the quality of care and avoidable complications of transitions;
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Assess transition processes in a consecutive series of transitions in two distinct study sites over a one year period;
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Analyze the influence of organizational factors in key practice locations, e.g. NHs, pre-hospital transport services, and emergency departments, on transition successfulness in two study sites; and,
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Identify opportunities for evidence-informed management and quality improvement
Mixed methods will be employed to collect and analyze data from both administrative and primary sources. This will enable us to build a practical tool to assess transition success incorporating input from multiple stakeholders. Multiple data sources and methods of data collection will also help us create a comprehensive picture of the situation in three different and complex environments.