Recommendations for healthy aging as documented in health records

Introduction
To enhance health of older adults and prevent health issues, health professionals play a crucial role in providing guidance and support. Preventive home visit is one intervention where health professionals offer valuable recommendations to older adults. By investigating the recorded recommendations and assessing the areas they cover, we can identify gaps in the recommendations given. This study aims to identify what types of recommendations are documented in the health records of older adults during preventive home visits.
Methods
A comprehensive analysis was conducted on the records from 596 preventive home visits (participants mean age 78.71 years). The analysis involved both qualitative and quantitative approaches
Results
The preliminary results revealed that the most frequently documented recommendations focused on physical or mental health, followed by recommendations related to preventing falls and optimizing nutrition. These recommendations could be categorized into ten sub-categories, covering a wide range of aspects: physical or mental health, fall prevention, nutrition, physical activity, future planning, social engagement, financial matters, seeking assistance from others, utilizing municipal services, and enhancing home security. These sub-categories were further aligned with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, encompassing body functions and structure, activity, participation, and environmental factors.
Conclusions
The results predominantly focused on risk prevention in the recommendations, with less emphasis on health promotion. Beyond addressing the person’s intrinsic.

Referens till vetenskaplig artikel: Nivestam, A., Haak, M., & Westergren, A. (2024). Recommendations for healthy aging as documented by health professionals: a summative content analysis of health records. Primary health care research & development, 24, e73.