Elder-Friendly Emergency Department: Development and Validation of a Quality Assessment Tool - American Geriatric Society

Objectives

To develop and validate a comprehensive quality assessment tool for emergency department (ED) geriatric care.

Design

Four-step study: (1) Content development of tool by a multidisciplinary panel, (2) survey of ED lead physicians and nurses, (3) development of subscales using principal component analysis and clinical judgment, (4) reliability and validity assessment.

Setting

Province of Quebec, Canada.

Participants

Lead ED nurses and physicians at 76 Quebec EDs who participated in a 2013/14 survey (66% of 116 adult nonpsychiatric EDs in the province).

Measurements

Geriatric care items (n = 62) grouped into seven preliminary content areas (screening and assessment, clinical protocols, discharge planning, staffing, physical environment, continuing education, quality assessment), lead nurse and physician perceptions of the quality of ED geriatric care, institutional prioritization of geriatric care, and ED type.

Results

Thirteen subscales were developed; most were associated with ED type and quality indicators.

Conclusion

Thirteen subscales for geriatric ED services are proposed for evaluation in various ED settings.

from Journal of the American Geriatrics Society http://ift.tt/2wWwSyl
via IFTTT