PS2-34: Interim Evaluation of Preparing for the Best Transitional Care Simulation Intervention

Abstract

Background/AimsInadequate patient engagement puts many older adults at risk for adverse events during hospital-to-home transitions. The Preparing for the Best transitional care intervention teaches older adults skills for actively participating in future hospital-to-home transitions using simulation methodology.MethodsSixty patients 65 years of age or older who had been hospitalized at Scott & White Healthcare in the past year have enrolled in the study and were randomized into intervention or control group. All took part in baseline and one-month follow-up simulation scenarios representing hospital discharge, self-care at home, and a follow up-visit. In each scenario, participants interacted with ?Standardized Clinicians? playing the roles of providers. The Intervention group participated in additional training that included a debriefing session during which tools to support engagement were introduced. An additional set of simulated scenarios and a second debriefing session followed. The Intervention group is expected to display more engagement behaviors than the Control group one month after baseline. Participants are completing a 13-item self-report measure and four open-ended questions about their experiences. Participants rate their level of agreement or disagreement with evaluative statements about the program. The open-ended questions gather patient feedback for making the program more useful. Responses were reviewed to identify general themes.ResultsData collection is ongoing. Overall, participant feedback has been very positive and participant retention has been very high (57 of 68 have completed baseline and one-month follow-up sessions). Participants in both groups report on evaluations that the program helped them learn the importance of asking questions and paying close attention to medications and instructions.ConclusionsThe interim program evaluation suggests that older patients are very receptive to learning new skills in preparation for future hospital-to-home transitions and value opportunities for practicing skills using simulation techniques. Analysis of behavioral observations before and after the intervention training will provide pilot data on which a larger study of the impact of the intervention on readmission rates will be based.