Management of post-acute COVID-19 patients in geriatric rehabilitation: EuGMS guidance

PurposeTo describe a guidance on the management of post-acute COVID 19 patients in geriatric rehabilitation.MethodsThe guidance is based on guidelines for post-acute COVID-19 geriatric rehabilitation developed in the Netherlands, updated with recent insights from literature, related guidance from other countries and disciplines, and combined with experiences from experts in countries participating in the Geriatric Rehabilitation Special Interest Group of the European Geriatric Medicine Society.ResultsThis guidance for post-acute COVID-19 rehabilitation is divided into a section addressing general recommendations for geriatric rehabilitation and a section addressing specific processes and procedures. The Sect. “General recommendations for geriatric rehabilitation” addresses: (1) general requirements for post-acute COVID-19 rehabilitation and (2) critical aspects for quality assurance during COVID-19 pandemic. The Sect. “Specific processes and procedures”, addresses the following topics: (1) patient selection; (2) admission; (3) treatment; (4) discharge; and (5) follow-up and monitoring.ConclusionProviding tailored geriatric rehabilitation treatment to post-acute COVID-19 patients is a challenge for which the guidance is designed to provide support. There is a strong need for additional evidence on COVID-19 geriatric rehabilitation including developing an understanding of risk profiles of older patients living with frailty to develop individualised treatment regimes. The present guidance will be regularly updated based on additional evidence from practice and research

Successful Geriatric Rehabilitation: Effects on Patients' Outcome of a National Program to Improve Quality of Care, the SINGER Study

Objective To determine whether the implementation of a national program to improve quality of care in geriatric rehabilitation (GR) in the Netherlands improves successful GR in terms of independence in activities of daily living (ADL), discharge destination, and length of stay. Design Prospective longitudinal study, comparing 2 consecutive cohorts: at the start of implementation (n = 386) and at 1 year after implementation (n = 357) of this program. Setting/Participants Included were 16 skilled nursing facilities, 743 patients (median age 80 years, interquartile range 72–85; 64.5% females) indicated for GR and their health care professionals (elderly care physicians, physiotherapists, and nursing staff). Intervention National program to stimulate self-organizing capacity to develop integrated care to improve GR service delivery in 4 domains: alignment with patients’ (care) needs, care coordination, team cooperation, and quality of care. Measurements Data on patients’ characteristics, functional outcomes at admission and discharge, length of stay, and discharge destination were collected via an online questionnaire sent to health care professionals. The primary outcome measure was successful rehabilitation defined as independence in ADL (Barthel Index ≥15), discharge home, and a short length of stay (lowest 25% per diagnostic group). Generalized estimating equation analysis was used to adjust for age, gender, and clustering effects in the total population and for the 2 largest diagnostic subgroups, traumatic injuries and stroke. Results In the total population, at 1 year postimplementation there was 12% more ADL independence [odds ratio (OR) 1.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00–2.54]. Although successful rehabilitation (independence in ADL, discharge home, short length of stay) was similar in the 2 cohorts, patients with traumatic injuries were more successful 1 year postimplementation (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.01–2.54). In stroke patients, successful rehabilitation was similar between the cohorts, but with more independence in ADL in the follow-up cohort (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.09–3.63). Conclusions This study shows that 1-year after the implementation of the Dutch national program to improve quality of care there was more independence in ADL at discharge, but the combined outcome of successful GR (independence in ADL, discharge home, short length of stay) was only significantly improved in patients with traumatic injuries

Effects of exergaming in people with dementia: results of a systematic literature review

Background: Physical exercise benefits functioning, health, and well-being. However, people living with dementia in particular hardly engage in exercise. Exergaming (exercise and gaming) is an innovative, fun, and relatively safe way of exercising in a virtual reality or gaming environment. It may help people living with dementia overcome barriers they can experience regarding regular exercise activities. Objective: This systematic literature review aims to provide an overview of the cost-effectiveness of exergaming and its effects on physical, cognitive, emotional, and social functioning, as well as the quality of life in people living with dementia. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Cinahl, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, and the Web of Science Core Collection were searched. Selection of studies was carried out by at least two independent researchers. Results: Three studies were found to be eligible and were included in this review. Two of these showed some statistically significant effects of exergaming on physical, cognitive, and emotional functioning in people living with dementia, although based on a very small sample. No articles were found about the cost-effectiveness of exergaming. Conclusions: Only a few controlled studies have been conducted into the effectiveness of exergaming, and these show very little significant benefits. More well-designed studies are necessary to examine the effects of exergaming

Changes in geriatric rehabilitation: a national programme to improve quality of care. The Synergy and Innovation in Geriatric Rehabilitation study

<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To describe changes in the health service delivery process experienced by professionals, patients and informal caregivers during implementation of a national programme to improve quality of care of geriatric rehabilitation by improving integration of health service delivery processes.</p><p><br /><strong>Study setting: </strong>Sixteen skilled nursing facilities.</p><p><br /><strong>Study design: </strong>Prospective study, comparing three consecutive cohorts.</p><p><br /><strong>Data collection: </strong>Professionals (elderly care physicians, physiotherapists and nursing staff) rated four domains of health service delivery at admission and at discharge of 1075 patients. In addition, these patients [median age 79 (Interquartile range 71–85) years, 63% females] and their informal caregivers rated their experiences on these domains 4 weeks after discharge.</p><p><br /><strong>Principal findings: </strong>During the three consecutive cohorts, professionals reported improvement on the domain team cooperation, including assessment for intensive treatment and information transfer among professionals. Fewer improvements were reported within the domains alignment with patients’ needs, care coordination and care quality. Between the cohorts, according to patients (<span class="italic">n</span> = 521) and informal caregivers (<span class="italic">n</span> = 319) there were no changes in the four domains of health service delivery.</p><p><br /><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This national programme resulted in small improvements in team cooperation as reported by the professionals. No effects were found on patients’ and informal caregivers’ perceptions of health service delivery.</p