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Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of an outreach support program for family carers of older people discharged from hospital

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Geriatrics, June 2015
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Title
Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of an outreach support program for family carers of older people discharged from hospital
Published in
BMC Geriatrics, June 2015
DOI 10.1186/s12877-015-0065-5
Pubmed ID
Authors

Christine Toye, Rachael Moorin, Susan Slatyer, Samar M. Aoun, Richard Parsons, Desley Hegney, Sean Maher, Keith D. Hill

Abstract

Presentations to hospital of older people receiving family care at home incur substantial costs for patients, families, and the health care system, yet there can be positive carer outcomes when systematically assessing/addressing their support needs, and reductions in older people's returns to hospital attributed to appropriate discharge planning. This study will trial the Further Enabling Care at Home program, a 2-week telephone outreach initiative for family carers of older people returning home from hospital. Hypotheses are that the program will (a) better prepare families to sustain their caregiving role and (b) reduce patients' re-presentations/readmissions to hospital, and/or their length of stay; also that reduced health system costs attributable to the program will outweigh costs of its implementation. In this randomised controlled trial, family carers of older patients aged 70+ discharged from a Medical Assessment Unit in a Western Australian tertiary hospital, plus the patients themselves, will be recruited at discharge (N = 180 dyads). Carers will be randomly assigned (block allocation, assessors blinded) to receive usual care (control) or the new program (intervention). The primary outcome is the carer's self-reported preparedness for caregiving (Preparedness for Caregiving Scale administered within 4 days of discharge, 2-3 weeks post-discharge, 6 weeks post-discharge). To detect a clinically meaningful change of two points with 80 % power, 126 carers need to complete the study. Patients' returns to hospital and subsequent length of stay will be ascertained for a minimum of 3 months after the index admission. Regression analyses will be used to determine differences in carer and patient outcomes over time associated with the group (intervention or control). Data will be analysed using an Intention to Treat approach. A qualitative exploration will examine patients' and their family carers' experiences of the new program (interviews) and explore the hospital staff's perceptions (focus groups). Process evaluation will identify barriers to, and facilitators of, program implementation. A comprehensive economic evaluation will determine cost consequences. This study investigates a novel approach to identifying and addressing family carers' needs following discharge from hospital of the older person receiving care. If successful, the program has potential to be incorporated into routine post-discharge support. Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry: ACTRN12614001174673 .

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 113 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 1 <1%
Unknown 112 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 18 16%
Researcher 17 15%
Student > Bachelor 11 10%
Student > Ph. D. Student 8 7%
Student > Doctoral Student 7 6%
Other 12 11%
Unknown 40 35%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Nursing and Health Professions 29 26%
Medicine and Dentistry 17 15%
Psychology 5 4%
Social Sciences 4 4%
Economics, Econometrics and Finance 3 3%
Other 9 8%
Unknown 46 41%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 25 June 2015.
All research outputs
#18,805,293
of 23,305,591 outputs
Outputs from BMC Geriatrics
#2,722
of 3,310 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#190,884
of 264,929 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Geriatrics
#30
of 32 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,305,591 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 11th percentile – i.e., 11% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,310 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.4. This one is in the 10th percentile – i.e., 10% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 264,929 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 16th percentile – i.e., 16% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 32 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 3rd percentile – i.e., 3% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.