Recognition and management of acute functional decline in older people living in care homes: a qualitative interview study with UK care home staff

Background Older people living in care homes who experience acute functional decline pose a diagnostic challenge to GPs.

Aim We aimed to explore beliefs, practices and experiences of UK care home staff who first recognise and respond to acute functional decline, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design & setting Qualitative interview study with 25 UK care home staff.

Method Semi- structured interviews were conducted over the phone between January 2021 and April 2022. Thematic analysis was facilitated by NVivo software.

Results Care home staff recognised acute functional decline as subtle changes from normal, which required knowing a resident well. However, it could be difficult to differentiate between an ‘off day’ and a more significant deviation, particularly for residents with a variable baseline. Acute functional decline caused anxiety to care home staff, in part due the uncertainty about illness trajectory and outcome. They commonly considered UTI a likely underlying cause. Some participants described a watch and wait approach or trying simple interventions, whilst others preferred escalating directly to outside clinical support. Triggers for escalation included perceived severity of illness, gut feeling or failure to respond to initial supportive management.

Conclusion This study has highlighted the complexities around the identification and management of a care home resident experiencing acute functional decline. There was variation in interpretation and responding to these episodes within the care home. More work is needed to understand the physiology and risk profiles of acute functional decline, as well as any relationship to UTI.