Impact of an Allied Health Team in the Emergency Department on Older Adults' Care

The study aims to examine the impact of implementing a dedicated team of Health and Social Care Professionals (HSCPs) in the emergency department (ED) of a large Irish hospital on the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of care for older adults (aged ≥65). Early assessment and intervention provided by the HSCP team will be compared to routine ED care to explore potential benefits related to key ED outcomes, including length of stay as well as hospital admissions and patient satisfaction/quality of life. This study is part of an ongoing interdisciplinary project funded by the Health Research Board of Ireland through the Research Collaborative on Quality and Patient Safety (RCQPS) Grant Call 2017. The project is led by Dr Rose Galvin, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at the University of Limerick (UL, Ireland), and overseen by an interdisciplinary steering group of expert researchers and clinicians in Emergency Medicine and Allied Health.