Quality indicators to monitor the quality and safety of care for older people: a scoping review protocol

Objective: The objective of this review is to identify quality indicators used to monitor the quality and safety of care provided to older people (≥ 65 years old) in 8 care settings: primary care; hospital/acute care; aged care (including residential aged care and home or community care); palliative care; rehabilitation care; care transitions; dementia care; and care in rural areas.

Introduction: There is a need for high-quality, holistic, person-centered care for older people. Older people receive care across multiple care settings, and population-level monitoring of quality and safety of care across settings represents a significant challenge.

Inclusion criteria: National and international quality indicators used to monitor and evaluate the quality and safety of care at the population level for older individuals in the 8 key care settings will be considered for inclusion. English-language quantitative and mixed method studies published from 2012 will be considered.

Methods: Academic (MEDLINE, Embase) and gray (government websites, clinical guidelines, Google) literature searches will be conducted. A standardized data extraction tool will be used to describe the identified quality indicators and associated tools. Quality indicators will be categorized by key domains (ie, pain, function, consumer experience, service delivery); quality indicator type (structure, process, outcome); and the Institute of Medicine's 6 dimensions of care quality (eg, efficiency, effectiveness, appropriateness, accessibility, acceptability/person-centered, safety). The scoping review will be conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews and will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR).

Review registration: Open Science Framework https://osf.io/8czun.