Clinical trial NCT06873919: A Geriatric Mobile Team for Nursing Home Residents: a Feasibility Pilot Study
Official title: A Geriatric Mobile Team for Nursing Home Residents: an Exploratory, Prospective, Single-Center, Non-Randomized, Non-Interventional Feasibility Pilot Study
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Conditions: Nursing Home Resident
Geriatric Assessment
Lead sponsor: Université Catholique de Louvain
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: CHU UCL Namur
First posted: 2025-03-13
Enrollment: 200
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 70
Standard ages: OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: The study population will be defined based on the population identified within the geriatric consultation project in nursing homes. Eligible patients present with geriatric syndromes identified by their primary care physician. They are over 70 years old and reside in one of the three nursing homes participating in the project.

Brief summary: Nursing home (NH) residents have complex healthcare needs. Barriers to collaboration hinder the delivery of high-quality care in nursing homes. To bridge the gap between hospital-based and NH-based care, various innovative approaches have been proposed, including geriatric mobile teams. In Belgium, geriatric expertise has long been confined to hospital settings. Until recently, no specific organization existed for outpatient geriatric assessment, particularly for NH residents. In April 2024, the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI) introduced a new reimbursement code for geriatric consultations in NHs, promoting the development of extramural geriatric activities. However, evidence on the effectiveness of mobile geriatric teams remains limited, particularly regarding hospitalization prevention.

The geriatrics department of CHU UCL Namur is implementing a one-year pilot project involving a mobile team composed of a geriatrician and a nurse to conduct geriatric assessments in the three nursing homes. This non-randomized pilot project aims to establish a new standard of care for residents selected by their general practitioner, leveraging the new reimbursement code. The project is accompanied by a clinical study assessing the feasibility, effectiveness, and acceptability of this intervention. Prospectively collected data will also help define key indicators for a future large-scale study focused on cost-effectiveness.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients aged over 70 years
* Presenting with one or more of the following conditions:

  * Difficulties in establishing an advance care planning
  * Medical complexity (multiple specialists, repeated hospitalizations)
  * Polypharmacy
  * Recurrent falls
  * Unmanageable behavioral disorders
  * Weight loss
  * Memory impairment

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients with an unstable medical condition requiring urgent care
* Patients under 70 years old
* Patients whose condition requires examinations or treatments available only in a hospital setting

Primary outcomes:
measure: Feasability
timeFrame: Immediately after the initial consultation, with follow-up assessments at 3, 6, 9, and up to 12 months post-inclusion.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Acceptability
timeFrame: Immediately after the initial consultation, with follow-up assessments at 3, 6, 9, and up to 12 months post-inclusion
measure: Determine the outcomes for a future full evaluation study.
timeFrame: Immediately after the initial consultation, with follow-up assessments at 3, 6, 9, and up to 12 months post-inclusion
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Yvoir
country: Belgium
facility: CHU UCL Namur
Study officials:
References: