The role of the intermediate care team in detecting and responding to loneliness in older clients.

Abstract

The intermediate care team supports patients in their own homes to manage complex needs. They are ideally placed in the community to identify older adults at risk of loneliness. However, little is known about how intermediate care team professionals perceive, detect or respond to loneliness in their clients. This study explores intermediate care team professionals' attitudes to loneliness in the context of perceived service priorities and their experiences of managing loneliness in their clients. Eight professionals (n=2 physiotherapists, n=3 occupational therapists, n=3 nurses) took part in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed thematically using framework analysis, applying the theory of planned behaviour as an interpretive framework. Intermediate care team professionals see loneliness as a significant issue for many of their older clients but a low priority for intermediate care team services. They believe that loneliness often goes undetected because it is difficult to measure objectively. Barriers to managing loneliness included high workloads, unsatisfactory referral systems and lack of close working with social care and independent sector services. Brief but reliable loneliness assessments into routine practice, receiving training on detecting and managing loneliness, and improving working relationships with social care and independent sector services were highlighted as strategies that could improve the detection and management of loneliness in intermediate care team clients.