Health and social care provided for older adults consist of a wide range of different types of services ranging from geriatric prevention to acute care and to end-of-life care. Furthermore, it involves health and social care professionals at various levels from home care nurses and nursing home staff to paramedics, emergency medical services, ED nurses and physicians in primary and tertiary care units. Unfortunately, service chains are often considered complex both by professional and older patients and their families. Maintaining and improving health and function, however, would require services that are reachable, meaningful and effective. In particular, prompt and high-quality care is important in acute care of older adults in order to advance their recovery and to ensure continued living at home. On the other hand, good care of chronic diseases is an important way to maintain physical function and to prevent acute hospital admissions and injuries.
Successful management of older people’s health should base on comprehensive assessment of their situation. This is important as common geriatric syndromes, like dementia and frailty, often remain undiagnosed in routine care. This far, the benefits of care based on comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) have been demonstrated among acutely ill older people.
The aim of our research group is to assess effectiveness and quality of geriatric services both from the viewpoints of the patient and healthcare system. In addition, we aim to provide knowledge on both care of acute and chronic diseases, particularly among home care clients. The main research topics include detection of factors predicting different health outcomes and testing and developing tools for healthcare professionals for assessing older adults and monitoring quality of their care. However, at the moment the main focus is on neurodegenerative disorders in older adults focusing on their timely diagnosis and treatment.