What is geriatric rehabilitation and how should it be organized? A Delphi study aimed at reaching European consensus

van Balen, Romke; Gordon, Adam L.; Schols, Jos M. G. A.; Drewes, Yvonne M.; Achterberg, Wilco P.

Abstract

© 2019, The Author(s). Purpose: Many European countries have developed services to rehabilitate the increasing number of older people who experience an acute or subacute decrease in function after a medical event such as a hip fracture or stroke. However, there are important differences between countries regarding patient selection, organization of services, length of stay, and content of the rehabilitation process. The lack of consensus around, and quality criteria for, geriatric rehabilitation limits opportunities for exchange of best practice and scientific research. Methods: 33 experts, mostly geriatricians with experience in geriatric rehabilitation, from 18 European countries were invited to participate in a modified Delphi study. They were asked to react to 68 statements using a five-point Likert scale. The statements were formulated on the basis of literature review and practice experience, and were initially piloted among Dutch elderly care physicians. Consensus was defined beforehand as an Interquartile Range (IQR) of

Citation

van Balen, R., Gordon, A. L., Schols, J. M. G. A., Drewes, Y. M., & Achterberg, W. P. (2019). What is geriatric rehabilitation and how should it be organized? A Delphi study aimed at reaching European consensus. European Geriatric Medicine, 10(6), 977–987. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-019-00244-7

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 17, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Oct 8, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019-12
• Deposit Date: Oct 21, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 31, 2019
• Journal: European Geriatric Medicine
• Print ISSN: 1878-7649
• Electronic ISSN: 1878-7657
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 977–987
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-019-00244-7
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2889516
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41999-019-00244-7
• Additional Information: Received: 18 July 2019; Accepted: 17 September 2019; First Online: 8 October 2019; : ; : On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.; : Approval from a medical ethics committee was not necessary, because under Dutch law, these kinds of surveys are exempt from ethical approval.