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You may anticipate that senior residents handled at walk-in care clinics would say what issues most to them is their well being.
However you would be incorrect.
No query, their well being is true up there. However “social activities and inclusiveness” are a fair larger precedence, in keeping with a brand new examine by researchers at Case Western Reserve College.
Then comes well being, adopted by independence and household togetherness as what’s most vital to them. That is based mostly on responses from about 388,000 sufferers aged 65 and older nationally at walk-in ambulatory care clinics. (Stroll-in care clinics present outpatient medical companies for minor sicknesses and accidents with out an appointment, corresponding to these at your native drugstore.)
Nicholas Schiltz, an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve’s Frances Payne Bolton Faculty of Nursing, who co-led the analysis, stated they did discover the outcomes a bit stunning.
“I would have thought health would have been a little bit higher since this is an acute-care setting,” he stated. “But I think it just shows that older adults—like everybody else— are very complex and have other needs that are just as much a priority.”
The aim of finding out the query is to enhance affected person care and well being outcomes by higher understanding their preferences and targets.
The clinics wish to align a care plan to what issues most to the affected person, Schiltz stated. So, if priorities are independence or being engaged in actions, they could tailor the drugs to cut back the danger of falls or they could prescribe mobility aids.
The examine, printed in JAMA Community Open, used digital well being information from a nationwide community of walk-in ambulatory care clinics—about 900 clinics in 35 states. Sufferers 65 and older who had in-person medical therapy between January 2021 and March 2024 had been requested the open-ended query “What matters most to you?”
Virtually half listed social actions and inclusiveness, adopted by well being (21%), independence (17%) and household togetherness (10.5%).
Demographically, of the respondents, almost two-thirds had been ladies, three-fourths had been white, 2.7% Asian, 5% Black and 4.7% Hispanic. The researchers discovered that the respondents’ priorities did not differ a lot by intercourse, race or ethnicity.
“This is important work that is a part of The John A. Hartford Foundation Age-Friendly Health Systems movement across the country to ensure all older adults receive evidence-based care,” stated Mary Dolansky, the Sarah C. Hirsh Professor on the nursing faculty, who co-led the examine.
“In addition to what matters, older adult care integrates other important dimensions of aging, such as receiving safe medications, assessments on depression and brain health and mobility. The population is aging, and we need to make sure all older adults receive evidence-based quality health care.”
Extra info:
Nicholas Okay. Schiltz et al, Affected person-Centered Priorities for Older Adults in Ambulatory Care, JAMA Community Open (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.35769
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Case Western Reserve College
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What issues most to senior residents? Not what you may suppose (2025, October 7)
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