Centre for Policy on Ageing



The impact of geriatric post-discharge services on mental state
Author(s)	Martin G Cole
Journal title	Age and Ageing, vol 30, no 5, September 2001
Pages	pp 415-418
Keywords	Aftercare ; Mental health [elderly] ; Discharged patients ; Literature reviews.
Annotation	A review of 11 controlled studies of geriatric post-discharge services reveals little evidence of their impact on mental state. MEDLINE, HealthSTAR and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched for relevant articles, whose bibliographies were searched for further references. Criteria for inclusion were: original study; published in English or French; controlled trial (randomised or non-randomised) of a geriatric post-discharge service; and inclusion of at least one measure of mental state. All trials met most of the validity criteria for intervention studies of the Evidence-based Medical Working Group. These trials reported a small effect on emotional state or self-perceived health, and eight trials reported no effect. Future studies should be designed to consider the issue of mental state outcomes in this population. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-011204214 A
Classmark	LN: D: LFD: 64A
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.