Intermediate care for older people.

Up to 40 per cent of older people do not go to hospital after calling an emergency ambulance and until recently were not referred on to any other community services. This article describes how a multidisciplinary working group developed and evaluated a protocol to enable older people to be referred to intermediate care services after calling an emergency ambulance. A total of 54 patients were monitored after referral to intermediate care to assess adherence to the protocol and outcomes.

A randomised controlled trial of a care home rehabilitation service to reduce long-term institutionalisation for elderly people.

Objectives: to evaluate the effect of a care home rehabilitation service on institutionalisation, health outcomes and service use.

Design: randomised controlled trial, stratified by Barthel ADL index, social service sector and whether living alone. The intervention was a rehabilitation service based in Social Services old people's homes in Nottingham, UK.

A short step from home.

Short-term care packages that integrate hospital services and primary care not only cut unnecessary admissions but enable older patients to recover in a setting more conducive to their well-being.