PubMed HealthSearch

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “aged care”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Factors associated with successful integration of pharmacists into residential aged care teams: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Australia's Aged Care Onsite Pharmacist program aims to support quality use of medicines in residential aged care homes. This is a novel role introduced into existing teams in a complex environment. Factors associated with successful integration since implementation are currently unknown. AIM: This study aims to explore the perspectives of pharmacists and other stakeholders within aged care homes regarding successful integration of the novel aged care pharmacist service into healthcare teams. METHODS: A qualitative approach, using interpretive descriptive methodology, was used to explore perspectives. Semi-structured focus groups and interviews with pharmacists, nursing and care staff, allied health professionals, general practitioners, residents, and family members were undertaken. Data were collected via Zoom™, audio- and video-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Two researchers undertook inductive thematic analysis to identify key themes. RESULTS: 30 participants across focus groups, focus-group interviews, interviews, and member-checking processes contributed. An overarching theme of proactivity and showing a genuine interest in others underpinned three key themes. Theme 1: Pharmacists needed to be seen, through physical presence and availability, as well as developing a distinct identity. Theme 2: Pharmacists needed to build trust, through collaboration in real time and demonstrating value. Theme 3: Pharmacists needed to develop an understanding of the aged care home environment, including social and contextual norms, as well as procedures, routines and roles. DISCUSSION: This research complements existing understandings of interprofessional collaboration and teamwork amongst healthcare professionals. Themes were interlinked; we used a sensitising framework, social cognitive theory, to present and explain the findings and interactions that can support pharmacist integration into existing teams. Aged care services should structure onboarding to prioritise early visibility, clarify roles and organisational needs, and foster in-person collaboration. Pharmacists should demonstrate proactivity and an authentic interest in all staff, residents and families.

Humans

Preventable mortality in Mexico: bridging gaps in chronic disease and ageing care.

Preventable mortality remains a critical public health challenge in Mexico, with 819 672 deaths recorded in 2024. Of these, 37.21% in the general population were attributed to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and diabetes mellitus. We analyse Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía mortality data to assess disparities in cardiovascular mortality across age groups, sex and geographical regions, and to identify key gaps in Mexico's preventive care strategies. Age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) reveal persistently elevated cardiovascular mortality in northern states, including Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango and Nuevo León, and in southeastern states, including Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatán. The burden is highly concentrated among older adults and geographically clustered in specific high-risk regions. These patterns reflect structural gaps in prevention, early detection and access to adequate care rather than unavoidable demographic change. Obesity, diabetes and hypertension form a pathophysiological triad that synergistically exacerbates cardiovascular disease through shared mechanisms and comorbidities. Despite substantial global declines in IHD mortality over the past two decades, Mexico continues to experience elevated and regionally extreme cardiovascular mortality, highlighting a failure to translate established global evidence into national practice. Drawing on evidence-based interventions implemented in comparable health systems, we propose seven scalable strategies: (1) expanding access to health services in underserved regions, (2) integrating preventive health programmes within primary care, (3) developing structured physical activity initiatives, (4) establishing a geriatric care framework, (5) promoting community-based nutrition and wellness programmes, (6) advancing gender-sensitive cardiovascular prevention across adulthood and ageing and (7) implementing school-based health education programmes. These interventions could substantially reduce cardiovascular mortality, lower healthcare costs and improve long-term population health outcomes in Mexico.

Humans

Access Block and Ambulance Ramping: The Canaries of the Healthcare System.

OBJECTIVE: To identify evidence-based factors leading to the global challenge of hospital access block and inform strategies to improve emergency access performance. METHODS: A mixed methods approach was followed comprising an umbrella review of published systematic reviews, qualitative analysis of the perspectives of patients and healthcare workers, and quantitative analysis of contextual factors and 6 years of ambulance, emergency inpatient and ward movement records for the 25 largest public hospitals in Queensland, Australia. RESULTS: A key set of findings and recommendations were identified to improve emergency access that are practical and actionable. These comprise the introduction of inpatient discharge metrics and monitoring to shift focus from the front door of hospitals to the 'back door'; increasing support for primary care, community care, aged care, NDIS and vulnerable groups; maintaining demand-side strategies such as increasing inpatient-equivalent care alternatives (e.g., hospital in the home, acute care within nursing home services); investment in prehospital flow; improving hospital processes such as extended-hour discharge lounges; improving workforce; and revising funding policies. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings fill a gap in the evidence regarding challenges and recommendations for improving patient flow within hospital emergency departments and across the broader health system. Focussing efforts at the 'back end' of the inpatient journey is a critical step to improve emergency care outcomes.

Humans

[Efficiency criteria and priorities in school age pedodontic care].

On the basis of findings in 1200 individuals aged between 7 to 16 years, the authors indicate priorities of dental care in the different age-groups. Apart from other criteria, the readiness for treatment and the disciplined behaviour of the children and adolescents during treatment may be used for assessing the dentist's achievements.

Adolescent

Sector-related variation on psychosocial dimensions in long-term care for the aged.

Quality psychosocial care was investigated among residents living in nonprofit homes, in proprietary nursing homes offering services primarily to privately paying consumers, and in homes that serve primarily Medicaid beneficiaries. A sector-related trend was found with regard to the care quality but not with regard to the importance attributed by residents to psychosocial dimensions of care.

Aged

Snapshot Genomic Surveillance Reveals Insights into Antimicrobial Resistance and Lineage Diversity of Uropathogens in Older Adults in Queensland.

BACKGROUND: Community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a significant health concern in older adults. However, few studies have investigated the epidemiology of uropathogens across diverse settings where older adults reside. METHODS: In this study, we whole-genome sequenced urinary isolates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species, and Enterobacter cloacae complex collected from individuals aged 70 and over living in the community and residential aged care facilities (RACFs) in Queensland, Australia. We investigated the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), pathogen population structure, and transmission dynamics across the settings. RESULTS: E. coli was most frequently identified (82.2%, 447/544), followed by K. pneumoniae (10.8%, 59/544) and E. hormaechei (2.6%, 14/544). Intraspecies lineages were diverse, and a total of 177 sequence types were identified. The three predominant lineages were E. coli ST73 (10.7%, 54/504), ST95 (8.1%, 41/504), and ST131 (5.4%, 27/504). Transmission events were minimal, being identified in 13 patients (2.5%), mainly from the community. The resistance rate to antibiotics was low, with only a small proportion (9.7%) of multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates. The predominant MDR lineage was E. coli ST131, which carried extended-spectrum beta-lactamase bla CTX-M genes. CONCLUSIONS: Community-acquired UTIs in older adults are predominantly caused by diverse E. coli lineages, with limited evidence of transmission within aged care facilities. The low rates of AMR in the community, along with the absence of strains adapted to a particular setting, suggest that current empiric therapy guidelines remain appropriate. Our prospective genomic surveillance offers valuable insights for monitoring UTIs in this population. It demonstrates the importance of an unbiased approach to accurately capture the prevalence and diversity of uropathogen lineages.

Enterobacteriaceae

The economics of caring for the aged.

Certain aspects of the economics of caring for the aged in South Africa are considered. The few years before an accelerated growth rate of the population in South Africa takes place should be used to prepare the economic and other resources of the country. The increasing per capita income of the non-White population should supply the resources to meet the needs of its aged. The use of various accommodations facilities is reviewed. Guidance of medical and paramedical experts, who are specially trained to care for the aged, is needed.

Black or African American

Early use of genomics to guide acquisition investigation of Salmonella Typhi.

BACKGROUND: As most Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) cases notified to public health units in Australia are acquired overseas, a case without recent travel raises concerns of local transmission. We describe a case of S. Typhi in a hospital inpatient without recent travel, where early use of genomic sequencing suggested remote acquisition from Chile in the 1980s, with chronic asymptomatic carriage. This facilitated the stand-down of a complex acquisition investigation. CASE: A notification of S. Typhi on stool culture was received for a female aged over 90 years living in Melbourne, Australia in October 2023. She had been hospitalised for three weeks (unrelated illness) and transferred into a residential aged care facility (RACF) six days prior to the result being known. She was asymptomatic and the sample was collected due to a recent ward gastroenteritis outbreak. INVESTIGATION: Epidemiological investigation identified the case had emigrated to Australia in 1981 from Chile. Recent typhoid-like illness, overseas travel or contact with travellers from endemic areas were excluded. Subsequent genomic sequencing identified the isolate was multilocus sequence type 2 and did not cluster with any strains isolated in Victorian or international databases, most closely clustering with historical South American strains, with potential in-host changes over time. MANAGEMENT: The case was presumed infectious throughout their hospital stay, with chronic carriage. There were 18 contacts, of whom 14 provided screening samples and were negative. Antibiotic case clearance was not recommended by the treating clinician due to patient comorbidity, treatment toxicity risks and unlikely treatment success without gallbladder removal. Enhanced infection control measures were instituted in the RACF (e.g. private bathroom, contact precautions for personal care, no food preparation). No additional cases were reported after two incubation periods (60 days). CONCLUSION: Early genomic sequencing enhanced the efficiency of the public health investigation by rapidly confirming overseas acquisition and chronic carriage, obviating the need for extensive local upstream investigation.

Humans