Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Background: Providing health services for aging populations is the fundamental issue of modern Canadian health policy, yet ineffective models of service provision result in inadequate transitional support for the older demographic. Although numerous regional transitional care strategies exist, experts acknowledge that older adults in rural communities are still vulnerable during transfers between care settings, resulting in compromised patient safety and poor quality care. Objectives: Informed by inquiry in critical gerontology, health integration and rural health, the research will pursue the goal of better understanding the interplay between older adult health construction and the influence of multidimensional contexts on the transitional care of older adults. The study will pursue the following objectives: 1)To explore perceptions of how older adult health is constructed, 2)To understand the experiences of key stakeholders involved in the transitional care of older adults in rural communities, 3)To better understand the contexts in which older adult transitional care is provided and 4)To provide a foundation of information for a regional older adult care network. Method: The research will involve a case study of Haliburton County and use a multi-method approach that encompasses three phases: 1)A Community Inventory, 2)Go-Alongs and 3) Semi-Structured Interviews. Considering the influence of context and the perspectives of key informants, this study will focus on two types of transitions: 1)when an older adult is transferred from a hospital to a long-term care home and 2)when an older adult is transferred from a hospital to a home in the community. Significance: Establishing the first study of rural older adult transitional care that traverses multiple care settings, this research will prepare Canada for the impact of the aging population and transform transitional care of older adults to ensure health services meet the needs of Canadians in the 21st century.