TAKE CARE research project
Hospitalization among older adults is associated with functional loss, called hospitalization-associated disability (HAD), manifesting as loss of ability to complete one of the basic activities of daily living (ADLs) needed to live independently without assistance. HAD, developing between the onset of the acute illness and discharge from the hospital, is frequent (approximately 40% of older hospitalized patients), severe (only 30% of older hospitalized patients have returned to their pre-admission level of self-care ADL functioning by one year) and avoidable in 80% of cases.
To prevent HAD, guidelines recommend targeting the 6 main causes of HAD: immobilization, falls, malnutrition, urinary incontinence, delirium and iatrogenic issues. However, these recommendations are not always followed due to lack of knowledge and difficulties in implementing them.
The TAKE CARE research project, funded by AXA sponsorship and led by Professor Jacques Boddaert and Dr Lorène Zerah, aims to reduce the HAD in older patients hospitalized in acute geriatric units. Our main hypothesis is that to promote access, knowledge and implementation of these recommendations (via education, training, connected tools) for caregivers, concerning HAD in older people (TAKE CARE intervention), could reduce the incidence of HAD in patients aged 75 or over and hospitalized in acute geriatric units. This innovative and mainly organizational intervention will be evaluated using a randomized, national, multicenter, cluster trial in 11 geriatric centers.