Fall prevention in long-term care
Falls are a major concern for seniors. Understanding contributing factors to fall risk and corresponding interventions can help long-term care staff support residents’ safety and quality of life.
Read the report:
What interventions prevent falls in long-term care? The case of Saint-Louis Residence. (2016)
Understanding the patient care experience at Saint-Vincent Hospital
The patient population at Saint-Vincent Hospital has changed with medically complex patients admitted for short-term sub-acute care instead of long-term care. To ensure that the care it provides continues to be commensurate with the needs of its patients, the ‘Transforming the Patient Care Experience’ project was launched in partnership with the Bruyère Health Research Institute, to understand the experience of care at the bedside and during care transitions.
Read the report:
Using Concept Mapping to Build Coordinated, Person-centered, High-quality Care at Saint-Vincent Hospital: Summary of Evidence. (2016)
Implementation of care planning in long-term care
Elderly people living with multiple, complex, and chronic health conditions need care and support from various health care providers. The Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Bruyère Health, in association with provincial partners, worked to identify the root causes of non-compliance related to plan of care and the success factors for compliance, and to devise and implement strategies to improve compliance with plan of care/care planning.
Read the report:
Implementation of care planning in long term care: A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2017)
Falls prevention in continuing care
Many falls occur as a result of interactions of multiple risk factors at the individual and setting level. This review assesses the effectiveness of falls prevention interventions in four settings, including subacute care, palliative care, rehabilitation and geriatric day unit settings, and long-term care.
Read the report:
Falls prevention in continuing care. A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2016)
Evidence-based screening tools and fall risk assessment in continuing care
Many falls occur as a result of interactions of multiple risk factors at the individual and setting level. This review assesses the effectiveness of fall risk screening tools and fall risk assessment tools as a basis for falls prevention intervention in four settings, including palliative care, rehabilitation, long-term care, and short and long-term medical care.
Read the report:
Evidence-based screening tools and fall risk assessment in continuing care. A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2016)
New oral anticoagulants for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the formation of a blood clot in a vein. Many cases of VTE are preventable with anticoagulants alone, or in combination with general methods and mechanical methods. This review examines whether new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) could be used in place of other VTE treatments, and whether the use of NOACs would achieve cost-savings.
Read the report:
New oral anticoagulants for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis. A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2016)
Respiratory therapy and respiratory care at Saint-Vincent Hospital
As part of the process of continually improving the care provided to patients and based on a high perceived burden of respiratory diseases among inpatients, a review of respiratory therapy services was commissioned to assess current and anticipated needs and models of care. This report provides an overview of respiratory therapy and respiratory care at Saint-Vincent Hospital and makes recommendations for specific strategies to address current and future needs.
Read the report:
An overview of respiratory therapy and respiratory care at Saint-Vincent Hospital. (2016)
Impact of living environments on dementia patients
Living environments have been shown to influence the quality of life of people with dementia. With the person-centered care model, long-term care facilities are adapting their concepts to the special needs of people with dementia resulting in different types of long-term care facilities offering different care and services. This review examines what living environments make a difference in behavioural and psychosocial outcomes of people with dementia.
Read the report:
Dementia: What living environments make a difference? A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2017)
Transforming patient care at Saint-Vincent Hospital
Often patients and families feel uncertain or confused when communicating concerns with staff. Many hospitals, like Bruyère Health, need to change the way they deal with complaints. This review explores hospital complaint systems by looking at how hospitals address complaints about care made by patients and families.
Read the report:
Transforming Patient Care at Saint-Vincent Hospital: A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2014)
Integrated disease management of COPD in long-term care
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic, progressive disease associated with airflow limitation and can be accompanied by periods of acute exacerbations, usually triggered by infection or air pollution that may require hospitalization. This review examines the evidence of the effectiveness of integrated disease management of COPD in patients in long-term care.
Read the report:
Integrated disease management of COPD in long-term care. A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2015)
Monitoring symptom changes in palliative care patients
It can be difficult and time-consuming to monitor system changes in palliative care patients. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) scale or the revised version (ESAS-r) are methods for monitoring symptoms, but their implementation in Ontario has been unsatisfactory. This review assesses the effectiveness, implementation strategies, and benchmarks for improving the use of ESAS/ESAS-r for monitoring symptom changes in palliative care patients.
Read the report:
Monitoring symptom change in palliative care patients: A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2017)
Shoe lifts for leg length discrepancy in adults with musculoskeletal conditions
Leg length discrepancy (LLD) is a condition in which paired lower limbs are noticeably unequal and can be associated with a range of musculoskeletal conditions. The use of shoe lifts for correcting LLD can improve functional outcomes in patients. The review evaluates the evidence of shoe lifts on pain, function, range of motion, patient satisfaction, and quality of life in adults with LLD.
Read the report:
Shoe lifts for leg length discrepancy in adults with musculoskeletal conditions. A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2016)
Patient engagement and accreditation requirements
Hospitals in Ontario are required to involve patients in developing quality improvement plans and to meet accreditation requirements. This review assesses patient engagement models by comparing six successful hospital-based organizations with Bruyère Health. This report serves as a self-evaluation tool that can be used to set priorities and develop standardized processes at Bruyère Health.
Read the report:
Patient engagement in Accreditation Required Organizational Practices (ROPs): A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2017)
Inter-professional patient-centred models of care for geriatric rehabilitation
There is an increasing need for appropriate models of care for geriatric rehabilitation to address the needs of an aging population, such as disability, cognitive impairment, comorbidities, and frailty. This review assesses the effectiveness of multidisciplinary or inter-professional patient-centred models of care for geriatric rehabilitation on length of stay, patient and family satisfaction, function, discharge location, and readmission to hospital.
Read the report:
Inter-professional patient-centred models of care for geriatric rehabilitation: A Bruyère Rapid Review. (2017)