RESUMEN
New models of care seek to reorganize healthcare to meet the challenges of a growing number of persons with chronic conditions, to optimize the use of the available workforce, and to improve the quality of care. Increasingly, these models also seek to organize care in a manner that addresses cost and efficiency in addition to quality of care. This chapter first revisits the history of chronic care models and then provides a description of successful and sustainable examples of integrated, multidisciplinary approaches for persons with dementia, persons with Parkinson's disease, and the frail elderly. We focus on models for neurodegenerative diseases and draw from the perspectives of research, clinical practice, and informal caregiving. Although focused on neurodegenerative disease, the principles of these approaches reflect the hallmarks of good primary, geriatric, and collaborative care. Many of the current models of care emanate from a medical approach led by physicians and other professional providers within the formal healthcare setting. Innovative approaches, however, now seek to incorporate these medical models within social and community services. We conclude this chapter by describing several international examples of community-based efforts that have been implemented to improve the care and lives of patients with dementia and their informal caregivers, which is at present one of the top priorities in many countries.
Asunto(s)
Prestación Integrada de Atención de Salud/métodos , Anciano Frágil , Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas/terapia , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Prestación Integrada de Atención de Salud/tendencias , HumanosRESUMEN
Homebound seniors suffer from high levels of functional impairment and are high-cost users of acute medical services. This article describes a 7-year experience in building and sustaining a physician home visit program. The House Calls for Seniors program was established in 1999. The team includes a geriatrician, geriatrics nurse practitioner, and social worker. The program hosts trainees from multiple disciplines. The team provides care to 245 patients annually. In 2006, the healthcare system (62%), provider billing (36%), and philanthropy (2%) financed the annual program budget of $355,390. Over 7 years, the team has enrolled 468 older adults; the mean age was 80, 78% were women, and 64% were African American. One-third lived alone, and 39% were receiving Medicaid. Reflecting the disability of this cohort, 98% had impairment in at least one instrumental activity of daily living (mean 5.2), 71% had impairment in at least one activity of daily living (mean 2.6), 53% had a Mini-Mental State Examination score of 23 or less, 43% were receiving services from a home care agency, and 69% had at least one new geriatric syndrome diagnosed by the program. In the year after intake into the program, patients had an average of nine home visits; 21% were hospitalized, and 59% were seen in the emergency department. Consistent with the program goals, primary care, specialty care, and emergency department visits declined in the year after enrollment, whereas access and quality-of-care targets improved. An academic physician house calls program in partnership with a healthcare system can improve access to care for homebound frail older adults, improve quality of care and patient satisfaction, and provide a positive learning experience for trainees.
Asunto(s)
Personas Imposibilitadas , Visita Domiciliaria , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Femenino , Geriatría/educación , Servicios de Salud/estadística & datos numéricos , Visita Domiciliaria/economía , Humanos , Internado y Residencia , Masculino , Modelos Teóricos , Grupo de Atención al Paciente/economía , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
CONTEXT: Most older adults with dementia will be cared for by primary care physicians, but the primary care practice environment presents important challenges to providing quality care. OBJECTIVE: To test the effectiveness of a collaborative care model to improve the quality of care for patients with Alzheimer disease. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Controlled clinical trial of 153 older adults with Alzheimer disease and their caregivers who were randomized by physician to receive collaborative care management (n = 84) or augmented usual care (n = 69) at primary care practices within 2 US university-affiliated health care systems from January 2002 through August 2004. Eligible patients (identified via screening or medical record) met diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer disease and had a self-identified caregiver. INTERVENTION: Intervention patients received 1 year of care management by an interdisciplinary team led by an advanced practice nurse working with the patient's family caregiver and integrated within primary care. The team used standard protocols to initiate treatment and identify, monitor, and treat behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, stressing nonpharmacological management. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) administered at baseline and at 6, 12, and 18 months. Secondary outcomes included the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), cognition, activities of daily living, resource use, and caregiver's depression severity. RESULTS: Initiated by caregivers' reports, 89% of intervention patients triggered at least 1 protocol for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia with a mean of 4 per patient from a total of 8 possible protocols. Intervention patients were more likely to receive cholinesterase inhibitors (79.8% vs 55.1%; P = .002) and antidepressants (45.2% vs 27.5%; P = .03). Intervention patients had significantly fewer behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia as measured by the total NPI score at 12 months (mean difference, -5.6; P = .01) and at 18 months (mean difference, -5.4; P = .01). Intervention caregivers also reported significant improvements in distress as measured by the caregiver NPI at 12 months; at 18 months, caregivers showed improvement in depression as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. No group differences were found on the CSDD, cognition, activities of daily living, or on rates of hospitalization, nursing home placement, or death. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative care for the treatment of Alzheimer disease resulted in significant improvement in the quality of care and in behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia among primary care patients and their caregivers. These improvements were achieved without significantly increasing the use of antipsychotics or sedative-hypnotics. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00246896.
Asunto(s)
Enfermedad de Alzheimer/terapia , Conducta Cooperativa , Grupo de Atención al Paciente , Guías de Práctica Clínica como Asunto , Atención Primaria de Salud/normas , Calidad de la Atención de Salud , Actividades Cotidianas , Anciano , Enfermedad de Alzheimer/fisiopatología , Antidepresivos/uso terapéutico , Cuidadores , Inhibidores de la Colinesterasa/uso terapéutico , Cognición , Depresión , Femenino , Hospitalización/estadística & datos numéricos , Humanos , Masculino , Pruebas Neuropsicológicas , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Primary care physicians are positioned to provide early recognition and treatment of dementia. We evaluated the feasibility and utility of a comprehensive screening and diagnosis program for dementia in primary care. METHODS: We screened individuals aged 65 and older attending 7 urban and racially diverse primary care practices in Indianapolis. Dementia was diagnosed according to International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 criteria by an expert panel using the results of neuropsychologic testing and information collected from patients, caregivers, and medical records. RESULTS: Among 3,340 patients screened, 434 scored positive but only 227 would agree to a formal diagnostic assessment. Among those who completed the diagnostic assessment, 47% were diagnosed with dementia, 33% had cognitive impairment-no dementia (CIND), and 20% were considered to have no cognitive deficit. The overall estimated prevalence of dementia was 6.0% (95% confidence interval (CI) 5.5% to 6.6%) and the overall estimate of the program cost was $128 per patient screened for dementia and $3,983 per patient diagnosed with dementia. Only 19% of patients with confirmed dementia diagnosis had documentation of dementia in their medical record. CONCLUSIONS: Dementia is common and undiagnosed in primary care. Screening instruments alone have insufficient specificity to establish a valid diagnosis of dementia when used in a comprehensive screening program; these results may not be generalized to older adults presenting with cognitive complaints. Multiple health system and patient-level factors present barriers to this formal assessment and thus render the current standard of care for dementia diagnosis impractical in primary care settings.
Asunto(s)
Demencia/diagnóstico , Evaluación Geriátrica , Atención Primaria de Salud/métodos , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Trastornos del Conocimiento/diagnóstico , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Tamizaje Masivo/economía , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Depression frequently occurs in combination with diabetes mellitus, adversely affecting the course of illness. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether enhancing care for depression improves affective and diabetic outcomes in older adults with diabetes and depression. DESIGN: Preplanned subgroup analysis of the Improving Mood-Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment (IMPACT) randomized, controlled trial. SETTING: 18 primary care clinics from 8 health care organizations in 5 states. PATIENTS: 1801 patients 60 years of age or older with depression; 417 had coexisting diabetes mellitus. INTERVENTION: A care manager offered education, problem-solving treatment, or support for antidepressant management by the patient's primary care physician; diabetes care was not specifically enhanced. MEASUREMENTS: Assessments at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months for depression, functional impairment, and diabetes self-care behaviors. Hemoglobin A(1c) levels were obtained for 293 patients at baseline and at 6 and 12 months. RESULTS: At 12 months, diabetic patients who were assigned to intervention had less severe depression (range, 0 to 4 on a checklist of 20 depression items; between-group difference, -0.43 [95% CI, -0.57 to -0.29]; P < 0.001) and greater improvement in overall functioning (range, 0 [none] to 10 [unable to perform activities]; between-group difference, -0.89 [CI, -1.46 to -0.32]) than did participants who received usual care. In the intervention group, weekly exercise days increased (between-group difference, 0.50 day [CI, 0.12 to 0.89 day]; P = 0.001); other self-care behaviors were not affected. At baseline, mean (+/-SD) hemoglobin A1c levels were 7.28% +/- 1.43%; follow-up values were unaffected by the intervention (P > 0.2). LIMITATIONS: Because patients had good glycemic control at baseline, power to detect small but clinically important improvements in glycemic control was limited. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative care improves affective and functional status in older patients with depression and diabetes; however, among patients with good glycemic control, such care minimally affects diabetes-specific outcomes.