Care homes

All of us at times do meaningless activities. We flip through channels on the TV or play silly games on our mobile phones.  Sometimes these activities serve as “breaks” from more intensive activity or time fillers when waiting for a person or an appointment.

Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) works. At least, it does when performed in an inpatient setting in an acute hospital. This has been shown over numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses to be the case.  Older people with frailty who receive CGA experience better outcomes in terms of functional status, cognition, readmissions to hospital and numbers of days spent at home.

Care homes do a lot of good work. There are almost three times as many beds in UK care homes as there are in National Health Service hospitals. Care home residents are amongst the most vulnerable members of our society.