Grant: Project Grant

In Canada, there is a serious problem with overcrowded hospitals and long wait times in emergency rooms, which affects the quality of care patients receive. Many older adults in hospitals need extra support to go back home, especially those who can't manage on their own and are waiting for a place in a long-term care facility. Most research focuses on older adults in long-term care homes, but there's not much information about those in retirement homes, even though many of them have significant health problems. We have noticed that when health issues come up, retirement homes often send residents to hospitals because they might not have enough staff or resources. Our team has found that residents in retirement homes end up in hospitals more often than those in long-term care homes. However, we need to understand why this happens and who is most at risk, including hearing from residents, caregivers, and healthcare providers. We plan to study this issue over three years using mixed methods. We want to figure out if different types of care settings (like private homes, retirement homes, or long-term care homes) affect how often older adults end up in hospitals, and what we can do to prevent unnecessary hospital visits. We will also look at how different characteristics of retirement homes and their residents influence hospital visits. And we will talk to healthcare providers, residents, and caregivers to understand their views on why older adults from retirement homes end up in hospitals. Our study aims to shed light on why older adults from retirement homes end up in hospitals and how we can prevent it. By understanding these reasons, we can develop better policies and practices for retirement homes and improve home and community care, ultimately easing the strain on hospitals and providing better care for patients.