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A conceptual framework for evaluating the conceptualization, implementation and performance of transitional care programmes
Author(s) -
Wee ShiouLiang,
Vrijhoef Hubertus J. M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/jep.12292
Subject(s) - conceptualization , psychological intervention , transitional care , flexibility (engineering) , context (archaeology) , intervention (counseling) , health care , medicine , outcome (game theory) , set (abstract data type) , nursing , conceptual framework , process management , psychology , computer science , sociology , business , political science , paleontology , social science , statistics , mathematics , mathematical economics , artificial intelligence , law , biology , programming language
Developed health systems want to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions by addressing the needs of chronically ill older adults throughout acute episodes of illness. Transitional care ( TC ) is a set of actions designed to ensure the coordination and continuity of health care as patients transfer between different locations or different levels of care within the same location, of which the main outcome of interest is avoiding hospital readmission. Implementation of TC is complex because it entails different actions to put multiple care components into practice, with various degrees of flexibility of adapting the intervention. Furthermore, the outcome involves behaviour change required by those delivering or receiving the intervention. Although there are examples of promising interventions, the possible variations in conceptualization and implementation present a real challenge for the adaptation of efficacious TC interventions from trial to ‘real‐world’ settings. There is a lack of a theoretical basis or explicit logic model for why adapted interventions should work. This study provides conceptual approaches for the implementation and evaluation of TC programmes. It describes a framework of (1) conceptualization – with respect to the components in an intervention and the population of interest; (2) manner and context of implementation; and (3) evaluation – how these processes of implementation impact health outcomes.