Characteristics of the qualitative studies selected for analysis
| Author (year) | Country | Data collection/ Methodology | Aim/Purpose | Sample | Setting | Cause of admission (n) |
| Bull (1994)43 | USA | Semistructured interviews/thematic analyses | To identify what healthcare professionals and elderly patients hospitalised for a chronic condition perceived as quality in discharge planning. | 17 Women 8 Men Age range: 68–90 years Mean age: 78.2 years | Patient’s place of residence (approximately 10–14 days after discharge from hospital) | Not reported |
| Durocher et al (2015)51 | Canada | Semistructured interview and observation/thematic analyses | To examine how discourses of client-centred practice and the prioritisation of safety are employed in the process of discharge planning with older adults using examples. | 4 Women 2 Men Age range: not stated Mean age: not stated | Rehabilitation unit | Not reported |
| Durocher et al (2017) | Canada | Semistructured interview and observation/thematic analyses | To examine how the intersection of various social and political influences might shape discharge planning and rehabilitation practices in ways that may not meet the advertised aims of rehabilitation programme or the preferences of older adults and their families. | 3 Women 2 Men Age: >65 years Age range: not stated Mean age: not stated | Rehabilitation unit | Not reported |
| Durocher et al (2017) | Canada | Critical bioethics approach. Microethnographic case study. Face-to-face semistructured interviews. | To explore discharge planning from the perspectives of older adults, family members and healthcare professionals. To examine social and political influences that might affect the perspectives and practices associated with discharge planning for older adults. To explore how social and political influences may be used with older adults to involve them in decision-making regarding discharge planning. | 3 Women 2 Men Age: >65 years Age range: not stated Mean age: not stated | Inpatient rehabilitation unit | Not reported |
| Dyrstad et al (2015) | Norway | Participant observations/systematic text condensation | To explore the participation of older patients in hospital admission and discharge processes. | 8 Women 13 Men Age: >75 years Age range: 73–93 years Mean age: not stated | Hospital | 7 patients with orthopaedic diagnoses (eg, hip fractures); 14 patients with medical diagnoses (eg, pneumonia) |
| Efraimsson et al (2006) | Sweden | Video recording/discourse analysis | Describing how patients, relatives and healthcare professionals deal with various problems and responsibilities that occur in discharge planning conferences and especially how they managed to achieve this given the institutional frame for the meeting. | 8 Women Age range: 72–89 years Mean age: not stated | Discharge planning conferences at hospitals | Stroke Heart disease Stroke Hip fracture Feverish condition Kidney condition Pneumonia Pulmonary disease |
| Efraimsson et al (2006) | Sweden | Video recording/thematic analysis | Describing the experiences of elderly women who participated in discharge planning conferences when they were about to be discharged from hospital. | 7 Women Age range: 72–89 years Mean age: not stated | Discharge planning conferences at hospitals | Stroke+heart disease Stroke Hip fracture Unclear fever Kidney disease Pneumonia |
| Ekdahl et al (2012)29 | Sweden | Interviews and observation/grounded theory | To explore the interactions of frail and elderly patients during their discharge from acute hospital wards and their participation in medical decision-making. | 4 Women 6 Men Age range: 76–91 years Mean age: not stated | Internal medicine wards | Not reported |
| Gabrielsson-Jarhult and Nilsen (2015) | Sweden | Video and audio taping/qualitative content analysis | To explore the concerns expressed by older people about their needs during discharge planning meetings at a hospital. | 17 Women 10 Men Age range: 67–93 years Mean age: 81 years | Hospital | Broad variety of diagnoses |
| Knight et al (2011) | UK | Semistructured interviews/thematic analysis | To explore the experiences of older people and their family carers regarding hospital discharge relative to the organisation and management of medicines. | 4 Women 3 Men Age range: 75–91 years Mean age: 82.6 years | At home recently (6 weeks to 3 months after discharge from hospital) | Not reported |
| Laugaland et al (2014)40 | Norway | Observational case study/ethnographic | To identify hospital-discharge functions, variability and performance-shaping factors that might explain the variability and different outcomes in discharge practices by incorporating the perceptions of multiple stakeholders. | 20 Patients Age: >75 years | Hospital on the day of expected discharge | Orthopaedic and medical conditions |
| McBride (1994) | UK | Interview | Establishing the current level of discharge preparation in acute elderly care wards of a hospital trust. Assessing the flow of information between the ward, patients, their carers or significant others. Reporting the current levels of satisfaction with discharge preparations in patients, carers and community nursing services. | 60 Elderly patients Age: not stated | In the patient’s place of residence | Not reported |
| Nyborg et al. (2017)35 | Norway | Semistructured/thematic analysis | Comparing and contrasting the experiences of older people and their relatives about participation in decision-making processes regarding the planning of everyday life after discharge from hospital. | 3 Women 2 Men Age range: 73–88 years Mean age: not stated | Two geriatric hospital wards | Pneumonia Falls Medication poisoning Stroke Acute worsening of known disease |
| Perry et al. (2011)37 | New Zealand | Semistructured interviews/interpretative phenomenological analysis | To explore the perceptions of discharge and returning home following lower limb orthopaedic surgery in older adults. | 8 Women 3 Men Age range: 66–88 years Mean age: 76.3 years | At home approximately 6 weeks after discharge from hospital | Orthopaedic lower limb surgery |
| Popejoy (2011)34 | USA | Semistructured/thematic analysis | To report the findings obtained from interviews with hospitalised older adults, family members and healthcare team members to determine the complexity of hospital-discharge planning for older adults. | 8 Women 5 Men Age range: 72–89 years Mean age: 84 years | Hospital | Not reported |
| Rydeman et al. (2008) | Sweden | Semistructured interviews/grounded theory | To examine how older persons in need of home-nursing care and their relatives experienced the discharge process and developing a model to explain these experiences. | 7 Women 10 Men Age range: 65–91 years Mean age: 79 years | At home 4–8 weeks after discharge from hospital | 4 Infection 4 Heart problems 1 Rheumatic disease 3 Intestinal problems 1 Dehydration 1 Fracture 1 Pneumonia 1 Stroke 1 Intoxication |
| Swinkels and Mitchell (2009)27 | UK | Semistructured interviews/phenomenological analysis | To explore and interpret the perceptions of participants regarding delayed transfer from a hospital into the community. | 12 Women 11 Men Age range: 74–90 years Mean age: 81.6 years | At home within 48 hours after discharge | Not reported |
| Wong et al. (2016)31 | Canada | Semistructured interviews/thematic analysis | To examine the experiences of patients from admission to hospital until discharge back home. | 6 Women 3 Men Age range: 76–94 years | In the patient’s home after discharge from hospital | Total knee replacement Acute stroke Pacemaker implantation Heart failure Cardiomyopathy Acute exacerbation of Urosepsis |