Publications by authors named "Wilhelmson Katarina"

Background: Self-determination in old age is essential for people's experiences of good subjective health and quality of life. The knowledge concerning how frail older people with decreased cognition perceive their ability to be self-determined in the different dimension in daily life is, however, limited. The aim of this study was therefore to explore the relationship of self-determination and cognition in frail older people.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Frail older adults experience higher rates of adverse health outcomes. Therefore, assessing pre-hospital frailty early in the course of care is essential to identify the most vulnerable patients and determine their risk of deterioration. The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is a frailty assessment tool that evaluates pre-hospital mobility, energy, physical activity, and function to generate a score that ranges from very fit to terminally ill.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Frail older people are at higher risk of further deterioration if their needs are not acknowledged when they are acutely ill and admitted to hospital. Mental health comprises one area of needs assessment.

Aims: The aims of this study were threefold: to investigate the prevalence of depression in frail hospital patients, to identify factors associated with depression, and to compare depression management in patients receiving and not receiving Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Today's acute hospital care is poorly adapted to the complex needs of frail older people. This exposes them to avoidable risks, such as loss of functional capacities, leading to unnecessary health and social care needs. Being frail and in need of acute hospital care often leads to higher dependence in Activities of Daily Living (ADL), especially if one's needs are not acknowledged.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: This study aimed to examine the multimorbidity as well as the 30-day and 1-year readmission rates in a large, unselected cohort of elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods And Results: All patients ≥70 years hospitalized due to ACS during January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2013, and registered in the SWEDEHEART registry were included. In-hospital multimorbidity and disease burden were determined.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) designed to manage frail older people requiring acute medical care, is responsible for diagnostics, assessment, treatment, and planning while addressing a person's medical, psychological, social, and functional capabilities. The aim was to investigate if CGA had an impact on frail older people's activities of daily living (ADL) status, self-rated health, and satisfaction with hospital care.

Methods: A two-armed design with frail people aged 75 or older who required an unplanned hospital admission were randomized to either the CGA ward or to an acute medical ward.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Frailty is a concept that is better than multimorbidity at identifying older people in need of special multidimensional care. Frailty denotes a state of accelerated biological aging in which the body gradually loses the ability to handle physical, mental and social stress. It is a dynamic condition which can be partly prevented and treated with physical exercise, nutrition and appropriate medication.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) for frail older people in Swedish acute hospital settings - the CGA-Swed study. In this study protocol, we present the study design, the intervention and the outcome measures as well as the baseline characteristics of the study participants. The study is a randomised controlled trial with an intervention group receiving the CGA and a control group receiving medical assessment without the CGA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: cognitive impairment is common among older adults, necessitating the use of collateral sources in epidemiological studies involving this age group. The objective of this study was to evaluate agreement between self- and proxy-reports of cardiovascular disorders and diabetes mellitus in a population-based sample of 80-year-olds. Further, both self- and proxy-reports were compared with hospital register data.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) practices multidimensional, interdisciplinary, and diagnostic processes as a means to identify care needs, plan care, and improve outcomes of frail older people. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze frail older people's experiences of receiving CGA. Through a secondary analysis, interviews and transcripts were revisited in an attempt to discover the meaning behind the participants' implied, ambiguous, and verbalized thoughts that were not illuminated in the primary study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We explored different professionals' views on and experiences of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) of frail older people. Forty-six professionals working in hospitals, primary care, or municipal health and social care participated in 10 focus groups. Professional groups comprised of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses, physicians, and social workers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) represent an important component of geriatric acute hospital care for frail older people, secured by a multidisciplinary team who addresses the multiple needs of physical health, functional ability, psychological state, cognition and social status. The primary objective of the pilot study was to determine feasibility for recruitment and retention rates. Secondary objectives were to establish proof of principle that CGA has the potential to increase patient safety.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in medical patients at Sahlgrenska University Hospital A hospitalized medical patient with risk factors has a 5-15 % risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Nonetheless thromboprophylaxis is largely underused. Our aim was to establish the proportion of high risk patients at Sahlgrenska University Hospital receiving thromboprophylaxis and to examine the 3-month incidence of VTE and bleeding.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Health-promoting interventions tailored to support older persons to remain in their homes, so-called "ageing in place" is important for supporting or improving their health. The health-promoting programme "Elderly Persons in the Risk Zone," (EPRZ) was set up for this purpose and has shown positive results for maintaining independence in activities of daily living for older persons 80 years and above at 1- and 2 year follow-ups. The aim of this study was to explore factors for maintaining independence in the EPRZ health-promoting programme.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The identification of frail older persons in different health care settings is widely seen as an important step in improving the healthcare system. Screening at an emergency department (ED) should be handled in just a few minutes without the use of tests or measurements. The FRESH-screening was developed for this purpose.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

It has been shown that frailty is associated with low levels of well-being and life satisfaction. Further exploration is needed, however, to better understand which components constitute life satisfaction for frail older people and how satisfaction is related to other life circumstances. The aim of this study was to examine relationships between frail older people's life satisfaction and their socioeconomic conditions, social networks, and health-related conditions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Although it is acknowledged that exercising self-determination in daily activities affects older people's health and well-being, few studies have focused on the explanatory factors for self-determination in daily life.

Objective: To investigate explanatory factors for self-determination in the context of community-dwelling older persons.

Method: This cross-sectional study combined two sets of data that included community-dwelling persons 80 years and older (n = 456).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Very old persons (80+) are often described as "frail", implying that they are particularly vulnerable to adverse health outcomes. Elderly Persons in the Risk Zone was designed to determine whether a preventive home visit or multiprofessional senior group meetings could postpone deterioration in frailty if the intervention is carried out when the person is not so frail.

Design And Sample: The study was a RCT with follow-ups at 1 and 2 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: There are inequities in health status associated with ethnicity, which may limit older foreign-born persons' ability to age optimally. Health promotion for older persons who have experienced migration is thus an area of public health importance. However, since research related to this issue is very limited, the study 'Promoting Aging Migrants' Capabilities' was initiated to improve our understanding.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Older persons' right to exercise self-determination in daily life is supported by several laws. Research shows that older persons' self-determination is not fully respected within the healthcare sector. In order to enable and enhance older persons' self-determination, extensive knowledge of older persons' self-determination is needed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyse the explanatory power of variables measuring health-strengthening factors for self-rated health among community-living frail older people.

Background: Frailty is commonly constructed as a multi-dimensional geriatric syndrome ascribed to the multi-system deterioration of the reserve capacity in older age. Frailty in older people is associated with decreased physical and psychological well-being.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In research and healthcare it is important to measure older persons' self-determination in order to improve their possibilities to decide for themselves in daily life. The questionnaire Impact on Participation and Autonomy (IPA) assesses self-determination, but is not constructed for older persons. The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the IPA-S questionnaire for persons aged 70 years and older.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF