Integrated care pathways (ICP) are increasingly used in clinical settings to provide more effective care to patients. ICPs form part of local working agreements to assist co-ordination of multi-disciplinary teams to deliver evidence-based care plans to individual patients. They also document the expected progress of specific patient groups as part of clinical records. To anticipate increased us...

OBJECTIVES To examine the associations between major and minor depression and categories of Medicare home healthcare use. DESIGN Observational prospective study (1997-1999). SETTING Visiting nurse agency in suburban New York State. PARTCIPANTS: Five hundred thirty-nine new Medicare admissions aged 65 and older (mean age 78.4), 65.1% female, and 15.0% nonwhite. Approximately 13.5% were diagn...

This study estimated excess home healthcare use and expenditures among elderly Medicare beneficiaries (age ≥ 65 years) with Parkinson's disease (PD) compared to those without PD and analyzed the extent to which predisposing, enabling, need factors, personal health choice, and external environment contribute to the excess home healthcare use and expenditures among individuals with PD. A retrospe...

Aim The study aims to describe the establishment of a culturally specific nursing home for Finnish-speaking older persons in Sweden. Design A descriptive qualitative study. Methods A descriptive case study based on a review of 14 public documents and individual interviews with two experts in the area, analysed with qualitative content analysis. Results This study found that shared languag...

Introduction Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus can lead to microvascular and macrovascular complications. Early detection of complications is necessary to prevent end-organ damage and reduce diabetes-related morbidity. In Qatar, the Home Health Care Services of Hamad Medical Corporation caters to about 1000 patients, who solely depend on home healthcare physicians for primary care coordination, wh...

An information system supporting pain assessment in palliative home healthcare was implemented at the hospital-based home care clinic of University Hospital in Linköping, Sweden. Using digital pens and pain diaries, pain assessments were sent from the patients' home to the professional caregiver. A total of 12 patients participated in the study. Patients, spouses and professional caregivers wer...

the perception of physician shortage in canada is widespread. absolute shortages and relative discrepancies, both specialty-wise and in urban-rural distribution, have been a daunting policy challenge. international medical graduates (imgs) have been at the core of mitigating this problem, especially as long as shortage of physicians in rural areas is concerned. considering such recruitment as h...

BACKGROUND Congestive heart failure (CHF), a common problem in adults, is associated with multiple hospitalizations, high mortality rates and high costs. PURPOSE To evaluate whether home care for homebound patients with CHF reduces healthcare service utilization and overall costs. METHODS A retrospective study of healthcare utilization among homebound patients who received home care for CHF...

In order to understand the tapestry of care in the home, we need to realize that in addition to regulated staff providing care, home support workers, volunteers and family and friend caregivers provide essential support to the frail, disabled and chronically ill. In their article “Employers, Home Support Workers and Elderly Clients Reveal Key Issues in Delivery and Receipt of Home Support,” Ann...

BACKGROUND The increasing cost in terms of money and healthcare resources is driving healthcare providers to provide home-based telecare instead of institutionalized healthcare. Falling is one of the most common and dangerous accidents for elderly individuals and a significant factor affecting the living quality of the elderly. Many efforts have been put toward providing a robust method to dete...