Function-Focused Care and Its Association With Adverse Events

TL;DR

This study shows that function-focused care in hospitals does not increase falls or hospital readmissions in older adults.

Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence that function-focused care does not increase fall risk or hospitalizations.

Findings

FFC did not increase falls at one month compared to the control group.

FFC did not increase falls at six months compared to the control group.

FFC was not associated with increased hospital readmissions or emergency room visits.

Abstract

Although the benefits of function-focused care (FFC) are well known, its implementations continues to be slow to take hold in the hospital setting, in part due to concerns for patient safety. Clinicians, patients, and families have expressed worry about the potential for falls and fall-related injuries which is associated with increased hospitalizations and mortality. This study addressed that issue by examining whether FFC was associated with increased falls, transfers to the hospital, and hospital readmission. Mixed-effects logistic regression demonstrated that, adjusting for race, age, co-morbidity, discharge location, and dementia severity, hospitalized older adults in the intervention arm had no more falls at one ( p=.512) and six (p= .668) months as compared to those in the control (education-only) arm. Findings suggest that, contrary to commonly held beliefs, FFC can be implemented without concern for increasing falls or risk of emergency room visits or hospitalizations.