Introduction: Despite clear national guidelines and government support for Fracture Liaison Services, the osteoporosis treatment gap remains significant. The Fracture Liaison Service Database (FLS-DB), a national audit run by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), has recently expanded its reporting to highlight this issue. Method: Previously the FLS-DB benchmarked data from those trusts submitting data to the audit. From January 2025, an extra column has been added to show ‘Missed Opportunities’ that includes data from sites not participating in the FLS-DB. Using local hip fracture data for
Introduction: In winter 23/24, the NHSCT tested an anticipatory care model in residential care homes. The model included a pharmacist medication review and pharmacy education element. Method: Across four residential homes the lead care homes pharmacist completed patient-centred, medication optimisation reviews, and carried out education sessions for senior carers. The number of recommendations/interventions made by the pharmacist was calculated. The number of recommendations/interventions relating to falls prevention, was also calculated. The clinical significance of each medicine optimisation
Introduction Despite the growing evidence from North America and Europe suggesting a decreasing trend in the incidence of dementia globally, the number of people affected by dementia is estimated to have increased by 117% (The Lancet Public Health, e105 - e125, 2019). This can be attributed to an ageing population, increased longevity, increased duration of the disease, and improved diagnosis. The aim of our study was to identify the mortality trend in AD over the last 10 years. Methods Data was collected from the Office of the National Statistics (England and Wales). The number of deaths from
Introduction: Physical activity and social connectedness play an important role in healthy ageing. Access to facilities such as libraries, parks, and community centres can facilitate physical activity, social interaction, and community building. Little is known about how older adults use places for physical or social activities. This study aimed to explore the places mid-to-older adults go to, and why they choose to engage or not engage in physical and/or social activities in particular places. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with community-dwelling adults aged 55-75 years
Introduction: Age friendly communities aim to create inclusive social and physical environments that facilitate older people to age actively, enjoy good health and continue participating fully in society. The built environment can profoundly influence older adults’ health and wellbeing. This study aimed to explore mid-to-older adults’ perceptions of the age-friendliness of their communities and how they defined localness. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted remotely and in-person between September 2023 and March 2024 with community-dwelling mid-to-older aged adults (n=22; 65.0 ±
Introduction Observations of the acute medical take suggested that patients who sustained a fall were affected by long delays and wait times to see both A+E and medical doctors. We felt that analgesia prescribing in these patients, many of whom sustained injury, was done poorly and some were being left without any analgesia leading to a negatively perceived patient journey. Our aim was to assess analgesia prescribing practices for patients following a fall with a view to improving experience. Method We completed three rounds of data collection, with 20 patients in each. We included patients
Introduction: Prion disease/Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies consists of a family of rare, progressive neurodegenerative disorders which have long incubation periods, are rapidly progressive and always fatal. CJD is caused by prions, which are abnormal pathogenic agents that induce abnormal folding of specific normal cellular proteins. This leads to brain damage and the characteristic signs and symptoms of the disease. There are 4 recognized forms – sporadic, genetic, iatrogenic and variant CJD. Review of 4 cases admitted to our acute ward for the elderly who were all ultimately
Introduction Health affects older people’s quality of life (QoL). Those experiencing health decline often require multiple medications (polypharmacy). This narrative review aims to explore the effect polypharmacy has on QoL and health-related QoL (HRQoL). We also wished to determine the QoL/HRQoL measurement tools employed and polypharmacy definitions used in included studies. Method Searches were carried out primarily in MEDLINE and EMBASE. Publication databases for The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) were also searched. Search