Home & Away: Demographics And “Time Spent At Home” Of Those Attending Community Specialist Teams For Older Adults, A Pilot Study

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Abstract Background Older people value time spent at home. The Integrated Care Programme for Older People (ICPOP) model provides specialist multidisciplinary interventions to maintain independence at home (Harnett et al., 2023). Understanding the demographics of this population and their outcomes is key to improved service planning and delivery. Decreased Time Spent at Home (TSAH) associated with Unscheduled Events (UEs) is associated with worse patient-centered outcomes (Lee et al., 2019) however it is not routinely measured in ICPOP populations. Methods Retrospective pilot cohort study of the population undergoing IPCOP Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) between January 2023 and January 2024 and outcomes collected up to May 2025. Data was collected from online hospital databases and included: demographics, level of frailty, dependence, cognition and polypharmacy. The primary outcome of interest was the number of UEs including Emergency Department attendances, Pathfinder reviews, hospital/nursing home admission and death, as well as the average TSAH prior to first unscheduled event post-CGA. Results 100 older people were included. Mean age was 82.94 (+/-6.48) years, 53% (n=53) were female and 44% (n=44) lived alone. The majority were referred from primary care (84%). Median clinical frailty score was 4. Polypharmacy was common (79% taking ≥5 and 33% taking ≥ 10 medications). Median Barthel and Lawton Brody scores 19 and 4.5 respectively. 68% (n=68) had evidence of cognitive impairment (median Montreal Cognitive Assessment Score 17). 81% (n=81) had a UE. Of these19% (n=19) were admitted to a nursing home, 21% (n=21) died. Median TSAH was 320 days from CGA to first UE. Conclusion ICPOP CGA resulted in almost a year spent at home on average before a first UE, underlying the importance of CGA in preventing admissions in a frail population. Further evaluation is required to determine actual cost savings to the health service and the value older people place on this intervention.

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