The Silent Epidemic of Hospitalization: A Multi-Disciplinary Narrative Review of Interventions Against Healthcare-Associated Disability in Older Adults
Abstract
Background: Healthcare-Associated Disability (HAD) represents a profound, often preventable, decline in a patient's ability to perform essential life activities following a hospitalization. Addressing HAD demands a coherent response that transcends traditional medical specialties.
Aim: This narrative review aims to synthesize evidence on hospital-wide, interprofessional interventions designed to prevent HAD, with a specific focus on evaluating the distinct and integrated contributions of ten core health fields: Nursing, Health Assistance, Physiotherapy, General Practice/Emergency, Social Service, Infection Control, Epidemiology, Radiology, Health Information, and Health Security.
Methods: An integrative narrative review methodology was employed. A systematic search was conducted across PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science for literature published between 2010-2024.
Results: Effective HAD prevention is contingent on synergistic, multi-domain interventions. Key findings include: the critical role of nurses and health assistants in fundamental mobility and delirium prevention; the necessity of early and intensive physiotherapy; the centrality of comprehensive discharge planning led by general practitioners and social workers; and the enabling roles of epidemiology for risk-stratification, radiology for diagnosis, health information for tracking, and health security for ensuring safety.
Conclusion: HAD is a systemic failure that can only be countered by a systematized, multidisciplinary attack. This review maps the essential contributions of a ten-profession coalition, arguing that functional preservation must be elevated as a primary, measurable outcome of hospital care, equal to disease cure. Future implementation requires dedicated resources, interprofessional education, and robust health informatics to coordinate this complex, vital effort.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Bandar Abdullah Aljohani, Abdullatif Hasan Mohammed Faqihi, Fatimah Sadiq Altaroti, Israa Ali Abuayfah, Faisal Al Farhan, Nawaf Ali Mohammed Nanushayli, Moath Ghazy Abdu Sofyani, Yahya Abdulrahman Y Dhamiri, Asma Abdullah Alhalil, Doha Radhi Ahmed Alwaif, Safa Ibraheem Abdu Udig
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