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Background: In 2010, a national enquiry into elderly patient outcomes after surgery identified that only 36% received 'good' care. Guidance was subsequently published by the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland regarding perioperative care of the elderly and those with dementia; this study aims to assess current adherence to these guidelines in anaesthetic departments across Scotland. Methods: A web-based survey was sent to all Scottish departments. The questions assessed department patient demographic, access to specialist pre-assessment services, availability of multidisciplinary input, perioperative care of patients with cognitive impairment and departmental training on geriatric perioperative care. Results: Responses were collected from November-December 2020 with a 92.6% response rate. A total of 64% of departments stated that > 50% of their workload involved patients over 75. One department had a lead clinician for geriatric anaesthesia, whilst 20% could access a geriatric specialist when coordinating perioperative care. Specialist geriatric pre-assessment services operate in 20% of centres. A total of 60% of respondents used a clinical frailty score when pre-assessing patients over 75, with 48% specifically screening for cognitive impairment. The vast majority of centres, 76%, did not routinely provide information regarding post-operative delirium and 24% 'never or very rarely' invite caregivers to accompany patients with dementia into the department. Education sessions regarding perioperative elderly care had occurred in 56% of departments. Conclusions: Elderly patients represent a significant proportion of anaesthetic workload in Scotland. Despite this, adherence to recommended practice is low. The vast majority of centres lack access to specialist multidisciplinary input or specialist pre-assessment services which are essential to providing good care. Reported screening for frailty and cognitive impairment is variable, with opportunities for improvement in communication and education (patient and clinician) surrounding these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction At all ages, randomised trials demonstrate lower mortality and cardiovascular disease incidence with blood pressure (BP) lowering. However, this may not generalise to older people with frailty. We aimed to determine the acceptability to clinicians of key aspects of trial designs using different BP targets and strategies to better manage hypertension in the context of frailty. Methods We conducted a multinational survey of clinicians managing hypertension in older people, distributed using an online survey link amongst professional societies and social networks. Questions described case histories of patients who were frail with different systolic blood pressures (SBP), treatment target, strategy and target trial population. Results In total, 114 responses were received (48 primary care, 66 secondary care). A majority would consider recruiting patients to a trial of relaxing treatment in those whose SBP < 130 mm Hg; a majority would consider recruiting to a trial intensifying treatment in patients with SBP > 150 mm Hg. Respondents elected to intensify treatment by: choosing the next step by NICE guidelines, adding a new treatment agent at full dose, or adding two agents at half dose. Conclusion A majority of clinicians surveyed would recruit older people to a trial intensifying treatment where SBP is more than 150 mm Hg and where patients have high cardiovascular risk or to a trial relaxing treatment where the SBP is below 130 mm Hg and where the patient has frailty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In the United Kingdom, the 2010 National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death report 'An Age Old Problem' outlined significant shortcomings in the perioperative care of older people. Other than hip fractures, the care of older patients under surgical specialities is largely devoid of routine geriatrician input. In August 2018, we introduced daily geriatric reviews (GR) on the gastrointestinal surgical wards, aiming to improve length of stay (LOS) and mortality. Methods All acute general surgery admissions for patients ≥70 years were reviewed between September and October 2017 (pre-introduction) and 2018 (post-introduction), and outcomes compared. For 2018, comparisons were also made between those who had GR and those who didn't. Results There were 173 admissions in 2017, vs 190 in 2018. In both 2017 and 2018, median age was 80, median LOS was 4 days, and clinical frailty scale (CFS) 4. Twenty-two percent (38/173) of patients had a surgical procedure in 2017, vs 33% (63/190) in 2018. Inpatient mortality was 8% (13/173) in 2017 (median CFS 6), vs 6% (11/190) in 2018 (median CFS 6). In 2018, 21% (40/190) of patients had GR: median time to review 3 days. 54% (n=22) of the patients with GR underwent a surgical procedure, 37% (n=15) were admitted to ICU, and inpatient mortality was 5% (n=2), vs 28% (n=42), 4% (n=6) and 6% (n=9) respectively for those without GR. 30 day readmission for those with GR was 12.5% (n=5), vs 18.4% (n=28) for those not seen. Conclusion While more surgical procedures were performed in 2018 (post-introduction), overall LOS remained unchanged and improved mortality was observed compared to 2017. Geriatricians are seeing more post-operative and ICU patients, and despite presumed increased complexity, both mortality and readmission rates remain low. Screening for frailty and specific inclusion criteria may improve rates of GR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Unprecedented global population ageing accompanied by increasing com- plexity of aged care present major challenges of quality in aged care. In the business literature, Senge's theory of adaptive learning organisations offers a model of organisational quality. However, while accreditation of national standards is an increasing mechanism for achieving quality in aged care, there are anecdotal concerns it creates a 'minimum standards compliance mentality' and no evidence about whether it reinforces learning organisations. Objective: The research question was 'Do mandatory national accreditation standards for residential aged care, as they are written, positively model learning organisations?'. Method: Automatic text analysis was combined with critical discourse analysis to analyse the presence of learning concepts from Senge's learning organisation theory in an exhaustive sample of national accreditation standards from 7 countries. The two stages of analysis were: (1) quantitative mapping of the presence of learning organisation concepts in standards using Bayesian-based textual analytics software and (2) qualitative critical discourse analysis to further examine how the language of standards so identified may be modelling learning organisation concepts. Results: The learning concepts 'training', 'development', 'knowledge', and 'systems' are present with relative frequencies of 19%, 11%, 10%, and 10% respectively in the 1944 instances, in paragraph-sized text blocks, considered. Concepts such as 'team', 'integration', 'learning', 'change' and 'innovation' occur with 7%, 6%, 5%, 5%, and 1% relative frequencies respectively. Learning concepts tend to co-occur with negative rather than positive sentiment language in the 3176 instances in text blocks containing sentiment language. Critical discourse analysis suggested that standards generally use the language of organisational change and learning in limited ways that appear to model 'learning averse' communities of practice and organisational cultures. Conclusion: The aged care quality challenge and the role of standards need rethinking. All standards implicitly or explicitly model an organisation of some type. If standards can model a limited and negative learning organisation language, they could model a welldeveloped and positive learning organisation language. In the context of the global aged care crisis, the modelling of learning organisations is probably critical for minimal competence in residential aged care and certainly achievable in the language of standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant care workers make a substantial contribution to older adult care in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK). However, little is known about the relational aspects of care involving migrant care workers and older people. Given that the care relationship is closely linked to quality of care, and that the Irish and UK sectors are increasingly restricted by economic austerity measures, this lack of information is a concern for care practice and policy. Our paper explores the relationship between migrant care workers and older people in Ireland and the UK and draws on data collected in both countries, including focus groups with older people (N = 41), interviews with migrant care workers (N = 90) and data from a survey of and interviews with employers. The findings illustrate the complexity of the migrant care worker–older person relationship; the prevalence of need orientated, friendship and familial-like, reciprocal, and discriminatory interlinking themes; and the role of individual, structural and temporal factors in shaping these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Community practitioner-related statistics in Great Britain as of October 2019 are given including the funding for new mothers with poor mental health risk in Scotland, the funding for elderly and disabled services in England, and the rise of reported mental health incidents between 2014 and 2018.

The International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, in association with the World Health Organization, set up a task force in response to the urgent need to improve long-term care, and address the variations in standards of nursing home care worldwide. This task force was charged with identifying the main clinical, quality and research concerns and actions that would enhance the care provided in nursing homes. As a result, recommendations have been developed. The authors argue that nurses worldwide have a responsibility to support and implement the international nursing home development agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the nature of expertise required in nursing and allied health professional work, on the basis of the All Ireland Gerontological Nurses Association (AIGNA) and the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) projects. These studies focus on palliative care for older people in care homes; they point to the recognition of early changes in health, anticipation of problems and action to prevent deterioration, as the essence of expertise in caring for older patients.