Survey and Interview Findings of an Environmental Scan of Perioperative Geriatric Models of Care in Canada

Mubeena Mistry; Camilla L Wong; Sarah Wei-Ping Chan; Daniel I McIsaac; Rachel G Khadaroo; Bonnie Cheung

doi:10.5770/cgj.26.673

Survey and Interview Findings of an Environmental Scan of Perioperative Geriatric Models of Care in Canada

Can Geriatr J. 2023 Sep 1;26(3):372-389. doi: 10.5770/cgj.26.673. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Mubeena Mistry¹, Camilla L Wong^{2

3}, Sarah Wei-Ping Chan⁴, Daniel I McIsaac⁵, Rachel G Khadaroo⁶, Bonnie Cheung¹

Affiliations

¹ Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto.
² Department of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, ON.
³ Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON.
⁵ Departments of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON.
⁶ Department of Surgery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Best practice recommendations support the implementation of perioperative geriatric care models that tailor to the specific needs of older adults undergoing surgery. The objective of this study was to describe the current proactive perioperative geriatric programs and pathways in Canadian hospitals.

Methods: A survey of geriatricians, surgeons, and anesthesiologists practicing in Canada combined with phone interviews of a subset of participants were used to determine characteristics of perioperative geriatric pathways or programs including eligibility, team composition, and intervention elements.

Results: Analysis of 132 survey respondents and 24 interviews showed 47% (40 out of 85) of hospitals described had elements of a perioperative geriatrics program and 20% had two or more elements. Eleven themes emerged including: how perioperative geriatric care programs built geriatric competencies in other health-care providers; geriatric assessment identified risks not captured in standard perioperative risk assessment; perceived value for patients and the health-care team; delirium prevention was addressed; most programs were reactive; most programs were informal; virtual care may be used to meet demand; successful implementation required system buy-in with collaboration across subspecialties; mechanisms to drive improvement were accountability and data evaluation; few clinicians with geriatric expertise; and other priorities limited program implementation.

Conclusions: There were few hospitals in Canada with perioperative geriatric care models and even fewer with elements spanning the entire perioperative pathway. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to inform the implementation and sustainability of perioperative geriatric care in the Canadian context were identified in this national environmental scan.

Keywords: geriatrics; perioperative; survey.