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Question Does the integration of medical and social services with case management programmes reduce functional decline, admissions to institutions, and the use and costs of health services in frail, elderly people living in the community?
Design
Randomised controlled trial with 12 months follow up.
Setting
A town (Rovereto) in northern Italy.
Patients
200 adults (mean age 81 y, 71% women) who were ≥65 years of age and received home health services or home assistance programmes.
Intervention
Patients in the intervention group (n=100) received case management and care planning by the community geriatric evaluation unit (which included a geriatrician, a social worker, and several nurses), case managers, and general practitioners (GPs). Case managers did the initial assessment, reported it to the geriatric evaluation unit which determined the services that patients …
Footnotes
Sources of funding: Progetto Finalizzato Invecchiamento; National Research Council.
For correspondence: Dr R Bernabei, Istituto di Medicina Interna e Geriatria, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy. Fax +39 6 315 1911.
A modified version of this abstract appears in Evidence-Based Mental Health.