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. 2022 Nov 15;22(1):857.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-03552-z.

Health and social care of home-dwelling frail older adults in Switzerland: a mixed methods study

Olivia Yip  1 , Suzanne Dhaini  1 , Jan Esser  1   2 , Flaka Siqeca  1 , Maria Jose Mendieta  1   3 , Evelyn Huber  4 , Andreas Zeller  5 , Sabina De Geest  6   7 , Mieke Deschodt  8   9 , Franziska Zúñiga  1 , Leah L Zullig #  10   11 , Heather A King #  10   11   12 ; INSPIRE consortium
Collaborators, Affiliations

Health and social care of home-dwelling frail older adults in Switzerland: a mixed methods study

Olivia Yip et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: Home-dwelling frail older adults are often faced with multimorbidity and complex care needs, requiring health and social care systems that support frail older adults to age in place. The objective of this paper was to investigate the types of formal health and social care as well as informal care and social support used by home-dwelling frail older adults; whether they perceive their support as sufficient; and their experience with and preferences for care and support.

Methods: Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, we first conducted a secondary analysis of a subset of cross-sectional data from the ImplemeNtation of a community-baSed care Program for home dwelling senIoR citizEns (INSPIRE) population survey using descriptive analysis. Subsequently, we analyzed existing data from interviews in the parent study to help explain the survey results using applied thematic analysis. Results were organized according to adapted domains and concepts of the SELFIE framework and integrated via a joint display table.

Results: Of the parent population survey respondents, 2314 older adults indicating frailty were included in the quantitative arm of this study. Interview data was included from 7 older adults who indicated frailty. Support from health and social, formal and informal caregivers is diverse and anticipated to increase (e.g., for 'care and assistance at home' and 'meal services'). Informal caregivers fulfilled various roles and while some older adults strongly relied on them for support, others feared burdening them. Most participants (93.5%) perceived their overall support to meet their needs; however, findings suggest areas (e.g., assessment of overall needs) which merit attention to optimize future care.

Conclusions: Given the anticipated demand for future care and support, we recommend efforts to prevent fragmentation between health and social as well as formal and informal care.

Keywords: Community-care; Delivery of healthcare, integrated; Formal and informal care; Frail elderly; Social support.

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Conflict of interest statement

Unrelated to the current work, Dr. King has funding awarded to her institution from Merck, Sharp & Dohme; Dr. Zullig consults for Novartis and Pfizer; and Dr. De Geest consults for Novartis and Sanofi. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Design of the explanatory sequential mixed methods study of frail older adults’ health and social care and support. GFI: Groningen Frailty Indicator (screening tool); PRISMA-7: Program of Research to Integrate Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy (screening tool); Note. The research method which was conducted first is denoted in capitalized letters (QUAN)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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