Can principles of the Chronic Care Model be used to improve care of the older person in the acute care sector?
BACKGROUND
There is increasing evidence that hospitals are failing to meet the needs of older people. As a consequence acute care needs to be adapted to meet the needs of older people. Although initially developed for chronic conditions the Chronic Care Model (CCM) provides useful strategies for improving continuity and quality of care. METHOD/AIM: This paper describes the elements of the CCM and discusses how a chronic care approach can improve models of care delivery for older persons in the acute care hospital settings.


CONCLUSIONS
The CCM provides a potentially useful approach to improve health care for older people in the acute care setting. Positive policy environments, interdisciplinary care collaboration, evidence-based practice, an emphasis on self-management strategies and empowered communities are essential elements for driving development of effective models of care.


CONCLUSIONS
Models of care require a multifaceted collaborative approach for sustainability. Implementing elements of the CCM in developing models of acute care may improve patient outcomes and decrease unnecessary admissions to hospital for older people.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper provides suggestions for models of care to improve care of the older person in the acute care setting.
Hickman
Louise D
LD
School of Nursing (Sydney), P.O. Box 944, Broadway, New South Wales 2007, Australia. lhickman@nd.edu.au
Rolley
John X
JX
Davidson
Patricia M
PM
D000208:Acute Disease / Q000451:nursing*; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000451:nursing*; D003256:Community Participation; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D006291:Health Policy; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D016294:Models, Nursing; D017146:Models, Organizational; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D012648:Self Care; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration*