Municipal acute care teams as a flexible solution for the treatment of acutely ill patients at-home: a mixed-method study of patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with an acute care team
Objective Development of initiatives to reduce hospitalisations is a major focus of healthcare planning. Strengthening the community with municipal acute care teams or units is a newly implemented Danish initiative aimed at preventing hospitalisations and supporting more flexible services. This stud...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2021-08-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/8/e049945.full |
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| author | Annmarie Touborg Lassen Christina Østervang Stine Emilie Junker Udesen Dorthe Susanne Nielsen Nina Andersen |
| author_facet | Annmarie Touborg Lassen Christina Østervang Stine Emilie Junker Udesen Dorthe Susanne Nielsen Nina Andersen |
| author_sort | Annmarie Touborg Lassen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective Development of initiatives to reduce hospitalisations is a major focus of healthcare planning. Strengthening the community with municipal acute care teams or units is a newly implemented Danish initiative aimed at preventing hospitalisations and supporting more flexible services. This study aims to describe patients treated by a municipal acute care team and to explore patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with at-home treatment.Design A mixed-method study consisting of descriptive statistics of patients treated by an acute care team, and quantitative and qualitative data from follow-up telephone questionnaires with patients and caregivers.Setting The acute care team, ‘Acute Team Odense’ (ATO), in the Odense Municipality, Denmark.Participants Patients treated by ATO and their caregivers. ATO treated 3231 patients (5676 contacts) in the period of 2018–2019.Results Average number of new contacts per day was 7.8, and the median treatment-length was 1 day. Patients were referred by various healthcare providers and most often by general practitioners, municipal staff and hospital staff. The median age of the patients was 80 years, and 20% were independent before the treatment. In total, 787/5676 contacts received at-home intravenous therapy, which corresponded to 3.6 hospital beds saved per day. The questionnaires were completed by 307/478 patients and 168/254 caregivers. Most respondents stated they would prefer at-home treatment in future similar situations as it enabled them to maintain their lives. Several respondents also experienced that ATO avoided hospitalisations or reduced hospital stays, which was described as a relief.Conclusion ATO was frequently used, indicating the demand for community-based acute healthcare. The patients and caregivers experienced that this solution avoided hospitalisations and allowed them to maintain their lives, and this was described as less burdensome. As a result of these findings, this initiative has been continued with an ongoing focus on searching for possibilities aimed to prevent hospitalisations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f6c4e953591e4c0b8a658ef5c47ea2a6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-f6c4e953591e4c0b8a658ef5c47ea2a62024-12-08T01:00:09ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552021-08-0111810.1136/bmjopen-2021-049945Municipal acute care teams as a flexible solution for the treatment of acutely ill patients at-home: a mixed-method study of patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with an acute care teamAnnmarie Touborg Lassen0Christina Østervang1Stine Emilie Junker Udesen2Dorthe Susanne Nielsen3Nina Andersen4Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, DenmarkDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark1 The Department of the Elderly and Disabled, Odense Municipality, Odense, DenmarkDepartment of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark1 The Department of the Elderly and Disabled, Odense Municipality, Odense, DenmarkObjective Development of initiatives to reduce hospitalisations is a major focus of healthcare planning. Strengthening the community with municipal acute care teams or units is a newly implemented Danish initiative aimed at preventing hospitalisations and supporting more flexible services. This study aims to describe patients treated by a municipal acute care team and to explore patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with at-home treatment.Design A mixed-method study consisting of descriptive statistics of patients treated by an acute care team, and quantitative and qualitative data from follow-up telephone questionnaires with patients and caregivers.Setting The acute care team, ‘Acute Team Odense’ (ATO), in the Odense Municipality, Denmark.Participants Patients treated by ATO and their caregivers. ATO treated 3231 patients (5676 contacts) in the period of 2018–2019.Results Average number of new contacts per day was 7.8, and the median treatment-length was 1 day. Patients were referred by various healthcare providers and most often by general practitioners, municipal staff and hospital staff. The median age of the patients was 80 years, and 20% were independent before the treatment. In total, 787/5676 contacts received at-home intravenous therapy, which corresponded to 3.6 hospital beds saved per day. The questionnaires were completed by 307/478 patients and 168/254 caregivers. Most respondents stated they would prefer at-home treatment in future similar situations as it enabled them to maintain their lives. Several respondents also experienced that ATO avoided hospitalisations or reduced hospital stays, which was described as a relief.Conclusion ATO was frequently used, indicating the demand for community-based acute healthcare. The patients and caregivers experienced that this solution avoided hospitalisations and allowed them to maintain their lives, and this was described as less burdensome. As a result of these findings, this initiative has been continued with an ongoing focus on searching for possibilities aimed to prevent hospitalisations.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/8/e049945.full |
| spellingShingle | Annmarie Touborg Lassen Christina Østervang Stine Emilie Junker Udesen Dorthe Susanne Nielsen Nina Andersen Municipal acute care teams as a flexible solution for the treatment of acutely ill patients at-home: a mixed-method study of patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with an acute care team BMJ Open |
| title | Municipal acute care teams as a flexible solution for the treatment of acutely ill patients at-home: a mixed-method study of patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with an acute care team |
| title_full | Municipal acute care teams as a flexible solution for the treatment of acutely ill patients at-home: a mixed-method study of patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with an acute care team |
| title_fullStr | Municipal acute care teams as a flexible solution for the treatment of acutely ill patients at-home: a mixed-method study of patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with an acute care team |
| title_full_unstemmed | Municipal acute care teams as a flexible solution for the treatment of acutely ill patients at-home: a mixed-method study of patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with an acute care team |
| title_short | Municipal acute care teams as a flexible solution for the treatment of acutely ill patients at-home: a mixed-method study of patients’ and caregivers’ experiences with an acute care team |
| title_sort | municipal acute care teams as a flexible solution for the treatment of acutely ill patients at home a mixed method study of patients and caregivers experiences with an acute care team |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/8/e049945.full |
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