The role of social isolation in frequent and/or avoidable hospitalisation: rural community-based service providers' perspectives.

Conclusions. Social isolation is perceived to contribute to admission in ways that may be amenable to intervention. Further research is needed to understand patients' perspectives on the role of social isolation in admission, in order to inform policy and programs aimed at reducing hospitalisation among older people with chronic disease. What is known about the topic? Social isolation has been shown to adversely affect physical health and mental health and wellbeing across a range of populations. However, less is known about the influence of social isolation on hospital admission among older people with chronic disease, and in particular in instances where admission might have been avoided. What does this paper add? This paper adds to our understanding of the ways in which social isolation might link to hospital admission among older people with chronic conditions. It does this by reporting the perspectives of community-based service providers with many years' experience of working with this patient group. What are the implications for practitioners? Practitioners need to consider the wider determinants of hospital admission among older patients with chronic disease, including social structures and support. For policy makers the implications are to review support for such patients and explore the possible impact of reducing social isolation on hospital admission. PMID: 23490000 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research