Navigating hospital to home transitions: A qualitative study exploring older adult and informal caregiver experiences, challenges and opportunities Article Swipe
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· 2025
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2025.103538
· OA: W4412525244
The transition from the structured environment of the hospital to the more independent home setting presents various challenges and opportunities that significantly impact the post-discharge journey. This qualitative descriptive study, conducted within the European TRANS-SENIOR consortium, explores the experiences of older adults and informal caregivers in Israel during hospital-to-home care transitions while identifying challenges and opportunities for optimizing care transitions. One-to-one interviews were conducted with seven older adults and nine informal caregivers who experienced hospital-to-home transitions within the past 12 months. Thematic analysis showed negative and positive experiences; challenges included fragmented healthcare management and a lack of person-centered care; opportunities for improvement in the care transition system included promoting individual autonomy, involvement in decision-making, and enhancing collaboration between hospitals and communities. Our findings can support research and clinical efforts and encourage policymakers to explore new ways of improving hospital-to-home transition experiences, leading to better patient outcomes and experiences.
