From hospital to home: a brief nurse practitioner intervention for vulnerable older adults.

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the impact of a brief nurse practitioner (NP) intervention on care transitions among older hospitalized adults discharged to home (N = 199). Immediately following discharge, participants randomly assigned to the intervention received up to three home visits and two telephone calls from a registered NP that included medication review, care coordination, assessment of medical care needs, and brief coaching in self-management skills. Usual care participants received all standard medical care, including access to case management services. Intervention participants reported improved satisfaction with medical care (p = 0.008) and self-efficacy in managing medical conditions (p = 0.001) and had fewer primary care visits (p = 0.036) but no change in hospital readmissions at 6 months following enrollment. These findings suggest that intervening at the point of transition may extend the reach of the primary care physician by improving patient outcomes through nursing support at a high-risk period of care-the transition from hospital to home.

Increased satisfaction with care and lower costs: results of a randomized trial of in-home palliative care.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether an in-home palliative care intervention for terminally ill patients can improve patient satisfaction, reduce medical care costs, and increase the proportion of patients dying at home. DESIGN: A randomized, controlled trial. SETTING: Two health maintenance organizations in two states. PARTICIPANTS: Homebound, terminally ill patients (N=298) with a prognosis of approximately 1 year or less to live plus one or more hospital or emergency department visits in the previous 12 months. INTERVENTION: Usual versus in-home palliative care plus usual care delivered by an interdisciplinary team providing pain and symptom relief, patient and family education and training, and an array of medical and social support services. MEASUREMENTS: Measured outcomes were satisfaction with care, use of medical services, site of death, and costs of care. RESULTS: Patients randomized to in-home palliative care reported greater improvement in satisfaction with care at 30 and 90 days after enrollment (P<.05) and were more likely to die at home than those receiving usual care (P<.001). In addition, in-home palliative care subjects were less likely to visit the emergency department (P=.01) or be admitted to the hospital than those receiving usual care (P<.001), resulting in significantly lower costs of care for intervention patients (P=.03). CONCLUSION: In-home palliative care significantly increased patient satisfaction while reducing use of medical services and costs of medical care at the end of life. This study, although modest in scope, presents strong evidence for reforming end-of-life care.

Moving from tacit knowledge to evidence-based practice: the Kaiser Permanente community partners study.

For several decades both medical and social work practices have failed to consistently include measures to determine the effectiveness of their care and practices. This is especially true of care management practices. With the growth and aging of our population, this is of particular concern when many of our resources for older adults are channeled into services such as geriatric care management. This article describes a randomized controlled trial that tested the effectiveness of four levels of geriatric care management. Results from this study did not support the tacit knowledge of the clinicians in terms of the effectiveness of their practices. This article describes the study methods and results, and how evidence from this study impacted subsequent service provided by geriatric care managers.

Barriers and facilitators to replicating an evidence-based palliative care model.

Recognition of the difficulties involved in replicating evidence- based interventions is well documented in the literature within the medical field. Promising research findings are often not translated into practice, and if they are, there is a significant time gap between study conclusion and practice adoption. The purpose of this article is to describe the barriers and facilitators encountered by two managed care organizations while replicating an evidence-based end of life in-home palliative care model. Using Diffusion of Innovation Theory as a theoretical framework, results from focus groups and interviews with the project's clinical, administrative and research teams are presented and recommendations made for improving translational efforts. The process of replicating the end of life in-home palliative care model clearly illustrated the key elements required for successfully diffusing innovation. These key elements include marketing and communication, leadership, organizational support and training and mentorship. This qualitative process study provides clear, real world perspectives of the myriad of challenges encountered in replicating an evidence-based project.

Physicians as medical center "extenders" in end-of-life care: physician home visits as the lynch pin in creating an end-of-life care system.

The article reviews a successful community-based end-of-life home care program. Specifically, physician visits were compared in the models of care studied, and it was concluded that the community-based model patients benefited significantly over the standard model of care patients due to the use of physicians.

Personality type in occupational therapy students: implications for teaching and learning strategies.

SUMMARY In this descriptive study, 130 occupational therapy students completed a widely-used personality inventory (the MBTI-M) as part of coursework in their first semester. The majority of students evinced a preference for seven out of the 16 possible personality types; one type was not selected by anyone. These findings closely resembled data from the 1970s on practicing occupational therapists. Common characteristics, such as a high premium on personal connectedness and a dependable working environment, have important implications for faculty. Implications for findings relate to adjusting instructional delivery methods to best match type and learning preferences for this population.

Kaiser Permanente community partners project: improving geriatric care management practices.

This article describes a geriatric care management project that is testing whether geriatric care management plus a brief purchase of service (POS) intervention will lower medical costs, improve satisfaction with care, increase care plan adherence, and improve perceived quality of life. Kaiser Permanente members aged 65 and older who were eligible for geriatric care management and consented to participate in the study were randomized to one of four study groups: information and referral via mail, telephone care management, geriatric care management, or geriatric care management with POS capability. The POS intervention provides up to $2,000 of designated, paid services including in-home supportive services, transportation, respite, or medical equipment within the first 6 months of care management enrollment. Approximately 1,400 senior members were referred to the geriatric care management program, and 451 were randomly assigned to one of the four study groups. Those enrolled in the geriatric care management program were significantly more likely to be ethnic minorities and have lower income than the general Kaiser Permanente senior enrollment. Barriers encountered in implementing the POS intervention included establishing contractual agreements between Kaiser Permanente and private and community agencies, locating adequate and sufficient community agencies to provided needed services, monitoring service contracts, and delaying use of the POS benefit.

The emotional effects of writing about stressful experiences: an exploration of moderators.

The emotional effects of writing about stressful experiences was studied using a quasi-experimental design in which ninety-one college students, who journaled for fifteen minutes on two occasions, were compared to 71 participants in a comparison group. Locus of control, extroversion, and previous experience with journaling were considered as moderating variables. The results indicated greater improvements in emotional health for the treatment group, with males benefiting to a greater degree than females. These findings suggest the short-term effectiveness of brief journaling interventions across the personality dimensions considered. The relevance of these findings for occupational therapists is considered.