Publication year: 2011
Source: Social Science & Medicine, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 21 July 2011
Frances Kam-yuet, Wong , May M., Ho , Stanley K., Tam , Susan K., Chow , SikYing, Yeung
Hospital readmission is an indicator of care quality. Studies have been conducted to test whether post-discharge transitional care programs can reduce hospital readmission, but results are not conclusive. The contemporary development of post-discharge support advocates a health and social partnership approach. There is a paucity of experimental studies examining the effects of such efforts. This study designed a health-social transitional care management program (HSTCMP) and subjected it to empirical testing using a randomized controlled trial in the medical units of an acute general hospital with 1700 beds in Hong Kong during the period of February 2009 to July 2010. Results…