Care transition of older adults from hospital to home

Objective: To analyze the quality of care transition of older adults who were discharged from hospital to home. Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study, conducted with 156 older adults after public hospital admission, located in the municipality of Piracicaba, state of Sao Paulo. Data were collected in patients' electronic medical records and by telephone calls with older adults, their relatives and/or caregivers, up to four weeks after hospital discharge. We used a questionnaire with sociodemographic data and the Care Transitions Measure, version validated for Brazil. Results: The mean duration of the last hospitalization was 8.27 days, mostly caused (72.44%) by COVID-19 and 75% of older adults had between 1 and 3 comorbidities, with hypertension (57.7%) being the most frequent. The mean CTM-15 score was 68.6. Factor 1, Management preparation, obtained the highest score (70.5), and Factor 4, Care plan, the lowest (59.14). There was a positive correlation between the 4 factors of Care Transitions Measure, also among these factors is the number of drugs used to treat older adults, according to the Anatomical Chemical Therapeutic Classification. Conclusion: We evidenced the quality of the transition of care in the hospital close to the value considered satisfactory, with two of the four factors with a score greater than 70;however, there is a need to adopt strategies to improve the discharge process from hospital to home, especially with regard to preferences imported and care plan for older adults.

Repercussions of infodemia associated with COVID-19 on the mental health of the elderly in Brazil

The phenomenon called infodemia refers to the increase in the volume of information on a specific topic, which multiplies rapidly in a short period of time, and has stood out in the context of the health crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Too much information can trigger feelings of fear, anxiety, stress, and other conditions of mental distress. The study aims to describe the profile of exposure to information about COVID-19 and its repercussions on the mental health of elderly Brazilians. This is a cross-sectional study carried out with 1924 elderly Brazilians. Data were collected through a web-based survey sent to the elderly via social networks and email, from July to October 2020. The results of the descriptive analysis of the data show that most of the elderly were aged between 60 and 69 years (69.02%), female (71.26%), married (53.79%) and white (75.57%). About 21.67% (n = 417) concluded their graduation, 19.75% (380) concluded their specialization and 16.63% (320) concluded their master's or doctoral degrees. Television 862 (44.80%) and social networks 651 (33.84%) were reported as frequent sources of exposure to news or information about COVID-19. Participants indicated that television (46.47%;n = 872), social networks (30.81%;n = 575) and radio (14.48%;251) affected them psychologically and/or physically. Receiving fake news about COVID-19 on television (n = 482;19.8%) and on social media (n = 415;21.5%) mainly resulted in stress and fear. The disseminated information contributes to awareness, but also affects physically and/or psychologically many elderly people, mainly generating fear and stress. © 2022, Centro Nacional de Informacion de Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.