Process Variances in Older Adults’ Care Transitions from Emergency Department to Home: Process Breakdown Versus Process Resiliency

摘要

For many older adults, the process of going to the Emergency Department (ED) and comingrnhome to access care in the community is a frequent and high-risk occurrence. These transitionsrnhave been shown to be a vulnerable and risk-prone period. The process remains a critical patientrnsafety challenge despite efforts to improve these transitions. Part of the problem is that an EDrntransition is thought of as a single episode of care rather than a sequential, but often cyclicalrnprocess. Conceptualizing the ED care and transitions as a longitudinal process, rather than a onetimernepisode, will provide insight as to how to improve care transitions of older adults byrnstudying the process as it actually occurs from a patient’s perspective. Further, variances will bernexamined to see what leads to a successful or unsuccessful process.