Patient flows through Valhalla : A survival analysis in the context of short-term care institutions

Abstract

Master's thesis Business Administration BE501 - University of Agder 2019Individuals experiencing functional decline may often require some form of assistance in order to reassume their activities of daily living. A common form of rehabilitation is a stay at a short-term institution, yet readmissions to such care facilities often occur. Home-based reablement has surfaced in Norway during the past ten years and aims to assist the user in reaching their own activity goals through a self-committed and intensive program, assisted by health care workers. The objective of this study isinquiring into the patient flows between home-nurse areas and short-term institutions in southern Norway over the course of three years. We examine individual characteristics such as gender, age, cohabitation and reablement participation assessing the differences in risk of admission and readmission based on these variables. To achieve this, we use multiple-spell discrete-time survival analysis andestimate several logistic regression models. Through our methods, we conclude that males, the elderly and cohabitants all have higher likelihoods of admission and readmission to short-term institutions than their respective counterparts. For reablement, participants are at signifcantly higher risk of admission, but a marginally lower risk of readmission, compared to non-participants in a similar situation