ACHA Publication: Towards a typology of medical care in European long-term care homes

This study looked at how medical care is organised for older people living in care homes across Europe. Researchers surveyed geriatric medicine specialists from 19 European countries to understand who provides care, how people are admitted to care homes, and how medical support is delivered day to day. They found wide variation between countries but identified three broad models of care. These range from highly medicalised systems, where specialist doctors such as geriatricians or nursing home physicians play a major role, through mixed models with strong gatekeeping at admission, to systems largely led by general practitioners and resembling community primary care. These models sit along a continuum rather than one being clearly better than another. The authors suggest that recognising these patterns can help countries learn from each other, improve services, and design international research. Overall, this work, led by ACHA Professor Adam Gordon, provides a useful framework for understanding differences and similarities in European care home medicine.