The Impact of Hospital Transfers on Long-Term Care Residents

Long-term care (LTC) residents often move to acute care hospitals, but these transfers don't always go well. When a resident's wishes aren't considered, the move can do more harm than good. This study aims to find out if being transferred to a hospital leads to new, serious physical or mental disabilities for LTC residents. Researchers want to know if the transfer itself causes these problems. They'll look at the medical histories of many LTC residents to see if there's a link. This is important because, sometimes, the harm from a transfer can be worse than the original issue. A key issue is that these transfers might not be the best thing for the resident. If the resident doesn't want to go to the hospital, the transfer can cause stress and confusion. This can lead to new disabilities that might not have happened if the resident had stayed in the LTC facility. The study will also consider other factors that might affect the outcome. For example, the resident's age, health condition, and how long they've been in LTC could all play a role. In the end, the goal is to make better decisions about when to transfer LTC residents to hospitals. If a transfer could cause more harm than good, maybe it's better to keep the resident in the LTC facility. This study could help make those decisions clearer.