title: CARE-PACT: a new paradigm of care for acutely unwell residents  in aged care facilities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ageing population trends create a strong imperative for healthcare systems to develop models of care that reduce dependence on hospital services. People living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) currently have high rates of presentation to emergency departments. The care provided in these environments may not optimally satisfy the needs of frail older persons from RACFs.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the Comprehensive Aged Residents Emergency and Partners in Assessment, Care and Treatment  (CARE-PACT) program: a hospital substitutive care and demand management project that aims to improve, in a fiscally efficient manner, the quality of care received by residents of aged care facilities when their acute healthcare needs exceed the scope of the aged care facility staff and general practitioners to manage independently of the hospital system.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The project delivers high-quality gerontic nursing and emergency specialist assessment, collaborative care planning, skills sharing across the care continuum and an individualised, resident-focused approach.
authors.affiliation: MBBS, FACEM, Clinical Lead CARE-PACT and staff specialist ED, Emergency Department, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, QLD.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Burkett
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D058996:Quality Improvement