Transitional care interventions for older adults hospitalized with heart failure

Naylor, PhD,, Dorothy A. Brooten, PhD, Roberta L. Campbell, PhD, Greg Maislin, MS, MA, Kathleen M. McCauley, PhD, and J. Sanford Schwartz, MD. All of the authors have graduate or post graduate degrees in the fields of health or medicine. This therefore makes them all qualified to write on the proposed study, and to carry out the research. They are, therefore, reliable and credible researchers in this field.

The title of the article itself; is appropriate to the title of the article; "Transitional Care of Older Adults Hospitalized with Heart Failure: A Randomized, Controlled Trial." Since the study focuses on the transition of older adults with heart failure, and the title of the article is represented, the title of the article is appropriate to the title of the study.

The abstract discusses how recent research suggests older adults with heart conditions, facing therapeutic regimes, are often stressed out and vulnerable when they are being moved from the hospital back into their homes to recover. The transition is obviously something to fear, since their ability to take care of themselves and follow their regimes, while trusting their own bodies to continue to function, can be an overwhelming feeling. The biggest problem is that quality of care provided in the home, in comparison to in the hospital, is generally more slack and not as helpful to the patient. This quickly creates a feeling of dissatisfaction in the older adult, and if the older adult is feeling stress like this while trying to recover, the recovery process can take much longer. Psychological happiness is considered essential for proper physical recovery in most health care situations.

Introduction

The authors define their problem statement and justification as follows: "Although reports of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) have yielded important information regarding the management of adults hospitalized for heart failure, little is known about the effectiveness of care management strategies for elders experiencing an acute episode of heart failure complicated by multiple other chronic health conditions." The focus of care management, and how the older adults are reacting within it, therefore needs to be analyzed.

Recommendations

The researchers feel that their results "suggest the potential benefit of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, individualized intervention directed by clinical nurse experts that spans the entire episode of acute illness and bridges the transition from hospital to home" (Naylor et. Al, 2004, p. 678) Therefore, the study's main recommendation is to make sure that hospitals develop adequate transitional in-home care assistance in order to help these patients recover.