What are the first quality reports from the Transition Care Program in Australia telling us?
Transition Care is a new program in Australia, jointly funded by the Commonwealth and State/Territory Governments. Implementation is undertaken by state health departments, in some cases through aged care organisations, against a set of key requirements. This paper examines reports from providers to reveal enablers and barriers to compliance with the requirements and to highlight emerging patterns of practice. The first 23 self-reports were content analysed. Person-centred and goal-orientated care was evidenced. General practitioner, pharmacist and geriatrician involvement in care planning and review was low. While service agreements between Transition Care services, referring hospitals and community providers improved the efficiency of information transfer and discharge arrangements, these were rare, hindering entry and discharge from the program. Transition Care offers older people a flexible model of care. While the flexibility of the model is a strength, service providers are struggling to achieve integration with existing services.
Masters
Stacey
S
Department of Rehabilitation and Aged Care, Flinders University, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia, Australia. stacey.masters@flinders.edu.au
Halbert
Julie
J
Crotty
Maria
M
Cheney
Fiona
F
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006302:Health Services Research; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007380:Intermediate Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000458:organization & administration; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care