Transitioning from home to residential care and its impact on the psychosocial state of older adults and family caregivers: a scoping review

Background: Transitions to long-term care (LTC) homes at older age are occurring more often due to the escalation of complex health care needs at more advanced ages, increasing the demand for palliative care services and LTC homes that provide appropriate care. The lack of understanding and knowledge on transition and admission processes to LTC homes may impact the psychosocial state of older adults and family caregivers that accompany them. Moreover, healthcare staff and frontline LTC staff often lack access to organizational tools, understanding about transitioning experiences, peer support and must learn the appropriate knowledge to aid in the transition experience. The unique older adult and family caregiver transition experiences from the home to LTC have yet to be further explored. Methods: To address the gap in literature, a scoping review of the global literature on the transitioning experiences of older adults and family caregivers from the home to LTC was conducted. The PRISMA-Scoping Review guidelines and the five step framework by Levac and colleagues were followed. Multiple databases were analyzed through narrative synthesis, the creation of infographics and informational tables. Results: Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. Transitioning experiences of both older adults and family caregivers were individually organized into three sections, with each of their respective subsections. 1) Pre-move experiences, 2) Move experiences, and 3) Post-move experiences. Discussion: Identifying experiences and barriers and facilitators on the transition experience from the home to LTC offers more in-depth information and supported evidence on the need to develop and offer inclusive transition support programs to combat the grief, stress and other psychosocial factors that may arise throughout for both older adults and family caregivers, as well as the need for guidance when considering the move to LTC. Conclusion: Future research is needed to implement policy, cultural and practice changes to enhance older adult's transition to LTC, the dissemination of information about transitions throughout the care continuum, admission processes and transition programs for families to benefit from.