This study was undertaken to compare care and cost outcomes of stroke patients who received home care with those who did not receive home care at St. Luke's Hospital Medical Center, New York, New York. Twenty-five home care stroke patients were matched by age and sex with 25 comparable stroke patients receiving no home care during 1971. After nine months' follow-up, stroke patients who received home care had shorter hospital stays (average, ten days less), overall costs greatly reduced (average, $3,450 for home care patients versus $8,300 for comparison group), fewer readmissions for recurring strokes, and fewer deaths (two versus nine). At the end of nine months, home care patients were located as follows: 20 at home, two on home care, one in a nursing home, and two were dead. The comparison group showed: eight at home, one at an extended-care facility, seven in nursing homes, and nine were dead. The differences in care and cost outcomes between these two groups have considerable implications for patients, hospitals, physicians, and third party payers.

A principle strategic insight of the Final Report for WHO’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) is that the nurturant qualities of the environments where children grow up, live, and learn matter the most for their development. A key determinant of early childhood development is the establishment of a secure attachment between a caregiver and child. We report initial field-tests of the integration of caregiver-child attachment assessment by community health workers (CHWs) as a routine component of Primary Health Care (PHC), focusing on households with children under 5 years of age in three slum communities near Nairobi, Kenya. Of the 2,560 children assessed from July–December 2010, 2,391 (90.2%) were assessed as having a secure attachment with a parent or other caregiver, while 259 (9.8%) were assessed as being at risk for having an insecure attachment. Parent workshops were provided as a primary intervention, with re-enforcement of teachings by CHWs on subsequent home visits. Reassessment of attachment by CHWs showed positive changes. Assessment of caregiver-child attachment in the setting of routine home visits by CHWs in a community-based PHC context is feasible and may yield valuable insights into household-level risks, a critical step for understanding and addressing the SDOH.

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Introduction This study aimed to describe the associations of frailty with cognition, disability, and quality of life (QoL) among individuals with chronic limb-threatening ischaemia (CLTI) over one-year following intervention. Methods Single-centre prospective cohort study. Patients aged ≥65 with CLTI and a planned intervention between May 2019 and May 2021 were eligible for inclusion. Patients underwent frailty, cognitive function, disability and QoL assessments before their procedure. Delirium screening was performed at 24- and 72-hours post-operatively. Frailty, disability and QoL assessments were repeated at three- and 12-months. Results Ninety-nine patients completed baseline assessments, of whom 45 (45%) were classified as frail by the Edmonton frail scale. Frailty was strongly associated with higher prevalence of cognitive impairment (52% vs 17%; p<.001). Eighty-seven patients underwent a procedure. Ten (11%) developed POD, of whom 8 had frailty (p=.003). Cognitive impairment (OR 8.52; 95%CI 1.12, 64.67; p=.038) was independently associated with POD. Frailty was associated with worse vascular quality of life questionnaire (VascuQoL) (p=.001) and EQ-5D-5L scores (p<.001) at all timepoints, however both those with and without frailty had modest improvement in VascuQoL and EQ-5D-5L scores at 12-months (p=.001). Barthel index (disability) scores were lower for those with frailty (p<.001) and decreased slightly over 12-months for both groups (p=.007). Five patients (12%) transitioned from frailty to non-frailty at 12-months (clinical frailty scale), however 10 patients (23%) transitioned from non-frailty to frailty. Conclusion CLTI patients with frailty have worse cognition, QoL and disability. Overall, individuals with CLTI demonstrate progression in frailty and disability at one-year post-intervention.