Table 1 Summary of key research themes identified
Priority themes | Research considerations identified |
|---|---|
Broader social aspects | Which health and social care professionals are involved in the hospital discharge process and the need to interview a range of care professionals with these roles? |
Practical Aspects | Â |
1. Timeliness of follow-up after hospital discharge | What is the ideal time post-hospital discharge for implementing an intervention? |
2. Co-ordination of medicines continuity | What are the key issues that patients face with medication continuity? Is there a standardised pathway for information transfer and medicines supply in the community post-discharge? Exploring process-mapping of current pathways? |
Communication | Â |
1. To the patient and education on their medicines and condition | What is the impact of communication with patients post-hospital discharge? The research should look to recruit patients from both the hospital setting (prior to discharge) and the general practice setting (post-discharge) Interviews with patients are useful as well as multi-stakeholder engagement with different professionals, agencies and informal carers. Interviewing family members or children (young carers) of those who live alone and require support for healthcare management. |
2. Between health care professionals | What systems are in place to enable better transfer of information across settings and how efficient/timely are these systems? How do we use digital technology to improve timeliness of care post-hospital discharge? Multi-stakeholder engagement is important to identify what issues and barriers can impact communication across sectors. Experience-based co-design of an intervention was identified as a potential method. |
Populations to focus research (highest risk) | Disadvantaged/vulnerable patients; identified as those who were socially isolated, lacked understanding or had language barriers, including but not limited to older adults. What processes are in place to identify and support these patients? The need to identify the role of discharge co-ordinators in the transition process across sectors, i.e. in hospital and after hospital in the community. |