Assessing the outcomes of day hospital care for older people: A review of the literature

The current policy context demands that health service providers demonstrate that services are effective, efficient, value for money and of good quality. Recent Government interest in intermediate care has increased pressure on day hospitals in particular to supply such evidence, because they face competition for their core services (such as rehabilitation care) from other community‐based providers. This review was conducted as part of a small study to evaluate a day hospital service in North London. Findings suggest that the outcomes of day hospital care are especially difficult to appraise because of the highly variable nature of both individual facilities and the needs and capabilities of patients attending. Traditional quantitative methods, such as randomised controlled trials or the use of standardised tools to assess treatment outcomes, face severe methodological problems owing to this variability. Three problems in particular would appear to hamper such research: comparability difficulties, owing to great variations in facilities and patient profiles; defining outcomes, because varying need may result in very different intended treatment outcomes, and determining complete costs, because patients rarely receive day hospital treatment in isolation from other health and social care services. The review suggests therefore that future researchers take a more user‐focused and qualitative research approach to the evaluation of day hospital care, such as by evaluating joint care plans with patients and staff, by assessing costs, by following small numbers of users through treatment and by studying users' and carers' views of (and preferences for) care.