TY - JOUR
T1 - CareTrack Aged
T2 - The appropriateness of care delivered to Australians living in residential aged care facilities: A study protocol
AU - Hibbert, Peter D.
AU - Wiles, Louise K.
AU - Cameron, Ian D.
AU - Kitson, Alison
AU - Reed, Richard L.
AU - Georgiou, Andrew
AU - Gray, Len
AU - Westbrook, Johanna
AU - Augustsson, Hanna
AU - Molloy, Charlotte J.
AU - Arnolda, Gaston
AU - Ting, Hsuen P.
AU - Mitchell, Rebecca
AU - Rapport, Frances
AU - Gordon, Susan J.
AU - Runciman, William
AU - Braithwaite, Jeffrey
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2019/6/1
Y1 - 2019/6/1
N2 - Introduction The aged population is increasing rapidly across the world and this is expected to continue. People living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) represent amongst the sickest and frailest cohort of the aged population, with a high prevalence of chronic conditions and complex comorbidities. Given the vulnerability of RACF residents and the demands on the system, there is a need to determine the extent that care is delivered in line with best practice (€ appropriate care') in RACFs. There is also a recognition that systems should provide care that optimises quality of life (QoL), which includes support for physical and psychological well-being, independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and a caring external environment. The aims of CareTrack Aged are to develop sets of indicators for appropriate care and processes of care for commonly managed conditions, and then assess the appropriateness of care delivered and QoL of residents in RACFs in Australia. Methods and analysis We will extract recommendations from clinical practice guidelines and, using expert review, convert these into sets of indicators for 15 common conditions and processes of care for people living in RACFs. We will recruit RACFs in three Australian states, and residents within these RACFs, using a stratified multistage sampling method. Experienced nurses, trained in the CareTrack Aged methods (€ surveyors'), will review care records of recruited residents within a 1-month period in 2019 and 2020, and assess the care documented against the indicators of appropriate care. Surveyors will concurrently assess residents' QoL using validated questionnaires. Ethics and dissemination The study has been reviewed and approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Macquarie University (5201800386). The research findings will be published in international and national journals and disseminated through conferences and presentations to interested stakeholder groups, including consumers, national agencies, healthcare professionals, policymakers and researchers.
AB - Introduction The aged population is increasing rapidly across the world and this is expected to continue. People living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) represent amongst the sickest and frailest cohort of the aged population, with a high prevalence of chronic conditions and complex comorbidities. Given the vulnerability of RACF residents and the demands on the system, there is a need to determine the extent that care is delivered in line with best practice (€ appropriate care') in RACFs. There is also a recognition that systems should provide care that optimises quality of life (QoL), which includes support for physical and psychological well-being, independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and a caring external environment. The aims of CareTrack Aged are to develop sets of indicators for appropriate care and processes of care for commonly managed conditions, and then assess the appropriateness of care delivered and QoL of residents in RACFs in Australia. Methods and analysis We will extract recommendations from clinical practice guidelines and, using expert review, convert these into sets of indicators for 15 common conditions and processes of care for people living in RACFs. We will recruit RACFs in three Australian states, and residents within these RACFs, using a stratified multistage sampling method. Experienced nurses, trained in the CareTrack Aged methods (€ surveyors'), will review care records of recruited residents within a 1-month period in 2019 and 2020, and assess the care documented against the indicators of appropriate care. Surveyors will concurrently assess residents' QoL using validated questionnaires. Ethics and dissemination The study has been reviewed and approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Macquarie University (5201800386). The research findings will be published in international and national journals and disseminated through conferences and presentations to interested stakeholder groups, including consumers, national agencies, healthcare professionals, policymakers and researchers.
KW - audit
KW - clinical audit
KW - geriatric medicine
KW - quality in health care
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068118650&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030988
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030988
M3 - Article
C2 - 31243038
AN - SCOPUS:85068118650
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 9
JO - BMJ open
JF - BMJ open
IS - 6
M1 - e030988
ER -