Abstract
Introduction: Ireland's population aged 65 and older increased by 40% in the last decade. ALONE is a national organisation that enables older people at age at home. The ALONE model is being delivered within the Enhanced Community Care (ECC) programme, which aims to ensure health services work in an integrated way to meet population needs. This presentation, designed using the RE-AIM Framework, presents preliminary effectiveness results from ALONE's national service evaluation.
Methods: Phone-based surveys using validated measures (Shortened Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, EQ-5D-3L, UCLA Loneliness Scale-3) were conducted with participants at baseline and three months into service. These measures were selected and piloted by the project team, which includes older people and volunteers.
Results: 272 participants completed the first survey (62.5% were female, 51.5% aged 75-85). Almost all (97%) had at least one chronic illness, 98% identified as white and 95% were not working. Participants had higher levels of loneliness (M= 5.7; SD = 2.2), lower wellbeing (M= 23.81; SD = 4.3), and lower health-related quality of life (M = 59.6, SD =23.6) compared to national studies. Preliminary analysis of data from 212 older people who participated in Time 2 indicated incremental improvements in loneliness (M T1=5.7; M T2=5.5) and self-reported health (M T1= 59.6; M T2 = 64.7). There were some changes in the percentage of people reporting no pain (T1=19.3%; T2 =21.2%) and not feeling anxious or depressed (T1=38.7%; T2=40.1%). Moreover, the average number of GP consultations (T1M = 2.32; T2M=1.93), A&E calls/attendance (T1M=.24; T2M=.09/T1M=.43; T2M=.17), planned (T1M=.30; T2M=.12) and unplanned (T1M=.58; T2M=.24) hospital stays per participant decreased.
Discussion: These early findings demonstrate modest improvements across several areas within three months of ALONE support. This provides important evidence supporting the effectiveness of community-centred care coordination as part of the wider system.