Functional maintenance initiatives for acutely hospitalised older adults

This thesis explores functional maintenance initiatives as an acute hospital intervention to target functional decline amongst older adults. Despite supporting evidence, these interventions are not characteristic of routine care and a qualitative study was conducted to explore key barriers and facilitators to implementation. Secondly, a systematic review evaluating the effectiveness of initiatives with multicomponent interventions demonstrated a reduction in the likelihood of discharge to nursing-staffed facilities. However, this thesis further highlights the need for more clinical investigations with standardised methods of evaluation, and the importance of considering key factors influencing implementation success.