Professional Care Networks of Frail Older People: An Explorative Survey Study from the Patient Perspective

Sietske M Grol; Gerard R M Molleman; Michel Wensing; Anne Kuijpers; Joni K Scholte; Maria T C van den Muijsenbergh; Nynke D Scherpbier; Henk J Schers

doi:10.5334/ijic.4721

Professional Care Networks of Frail Older People: An Explorative Survey Study from the Patient Perspective

Int J Integr Care. 2020 Apr 1;20(1):12. doi: 10.5334/ijic.4721.

Authors

Sietske M Grol^{1

2}, Gerard R M Molleman^{1

3}, Michel Wensing⁴, Anne Kuijpers¹, Joni K Scholte¹, Maria T C van den Muijsenbergh^{1

5}, Nynke D Scherpbier¹, Henk J Schers¹

Affiliations

¹ Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Primary and Community Care, Nijmegen, NL.
² Corperate Staff Strategy Development, Radboudumc University Medical Center, Nijmegen, NL.
³ Community Health Service Gelderland-Zuid, Department of Healthy Living, Nijmegen, NL.
⁴ Department of General Practice and Health Services Research, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, DE.
⁵ Pharos, Centre of Expertise on Health Disparities, Utrecht, NL.

Abstract

Background: Frail older people living in the community require multidisciplinary care. Despite the fact that patient participation is high on the public agenda, studies into multidisciplinary care mainly focus on the viewpoints of professionals. Little is known about frail older patients' experiences with care delivered by multidisciplinary teams and their perception of collaboration between professional and informal caregivers.

Objective: To gain more insight into the experiences of frail older patients with integrated multidisciplinary care by mapping the care networks of this patient group and their perception of the interconnection between professional and informal caregivers.

Methods: Survey study to facilitate a care network analysis. Due to the vulnerable health status of the respondents, questionnaires were completed during interviews. Analysis was performed using an iterative process, using both visual and metric techniques.

Participants: 44 older persons, considered 'frail' by their general practitioner.

Setting: Four general practices in The Netherlands.

Results: The networks of the participants consisted of an average of 15 actors connected by 54 ties. General practitioners were the most common actors in the networks, and were well connected to medical specialists and in-home care providers. The participants did not always perceive a connection between their general practitioner and their informal caregiver. The network analyses resulted in the identification of three subtypes: simple star (n = 16), complex star (n = 16), and sub-group networks (n = 12).

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the elderly often do not experience the integration of multidisciplinary care as such. This is a real opportunity for MTs to improve their care and to make the patients' experiences better in line with what they are aiming: allowing patients to live at home as healthy and independently as possible for as long as possible. We showed that informal caregivers often form communication bridges between patients and professionals. Having a better knowledge of the patient perspective enables the gaps in professional care networks of frail older people to be filled and facilitates the anticipation of crisis situations.

Keywords: frail elderly; multidisciplinary teams; network analysis; network typologies; patient perspective; primary care.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by ZonMw, The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (reference 154031002). The funder played no role in the: study design; collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; writing of the report; or the decision to submit the article for publication.