Fan Bingjie, Wang Meng, Chen MengJiao, Luo Huiyun, Wang Xiaoyi, Yang Yeqin
Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Department of Nursing, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
BMC Geriatr. 2025 Sep 26;25(1):726. doi: 10.1186/s12877-025-06400-y.
In light of the growing ageing population, the World Health Organization called for special attention to the age-friendliness of hospitals. Despite the concept of 'age-friendly hospitals' promising to enhance health care, there is no consensus within the field regarding its definition. The aim of this concept analysis was to clarify the attributes, antecedents, and consequences of age-friendly hospitals, thereby fostering a deeper understanding of the concept.
Walker and Avant's eight-step concept analysis method was employed. A systematic review of the Literature on age-friendly hospital settings was conducted across 11 electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL (EBSCO), Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP Database, Airiti Library, and SinoMed. The original search covered publications from each database's inception to November 2022. An updated search (December 2023) captured studies published after the initial search and up to December 2023, with duplicates excluded. Two researchers independently screened the literature and cross-checked it against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A qualitative content analysis was conducted for data synthesis.
A total of 5,489 records were identified through the initial and updated searches. After removing duplicates and screening titles and abstracts, 56 articles were included in the final analysis. The defining attributes of age-friendly hospitals were identified as adapting to the developmental needs, promoting the autonomy and engagement, and a sense of ease and burden-free for older adults. Antecedents included recognizing the unique needs of older adults, a discrepancy between needs and hospital services, and a transformation of health care. The consequences of implementing age-friendly hospitals can be categorized into three themes: promoting the health, function, and well-being of older adults, improving satisfaction with the hospital experience, and advancing levels of hospital services.
By providing a clear understanding of what an age-friendly hospital entails, our theoretical definition allows for a more systematic approach to evaluating and improving hospital facilities for older adults. The theoretical definition proposed in this paper can be used as a starting point for operationalizing the concept, which will facilitate the optimization of future age-friendly hospital standards and the development of empirical studies.
鉴于老龄化人口不断增加，世界卫生组织呼吁特别关注医院的年龄友好性。尽管“年龄友好型医院”的概念有望改善医疗保健，但该领域对于其定义尚未达成共识。本概念分析的目的是阐明年龄友好型医院的属性、 antecedents和后果，从而加深对这一概念的理解。
采用沃克和阿凡特的八步概念分析方法。对11个电子数据库进行了关于年龄友好型医院环境的文献系统综述，包括PubMed、Scopus、Web of Science、CINAHL（EBSCO）、Cochrane图书馆、Embase、CNKI、万方数据、维普数据库、华艺数位图书馆和中国生物医学文献数据库。最初的搜索涵盖了每个数据库从创建到2022年11月的出版物。更新搜索（2023年12月）捕获了初始搜索后至2023年12月发表的研究，并排除了重复项。两名研究人员独立筛选文献，并根据纳入和排除标准进行交叉核对。进行定性内容分析以进行数据综合。
通过初始搜索和更新搜索共识别出5489条记录。在去除重复项并筛选标题和摘要后，最终分析纳入了56篇文章。年龄友好型医院的定义属性被确定为适应老年人的发展需求、促进其自主性和参与度以及让老年人感到轻松无负担。 Antecedents包括认识到老年人的独特需求、需求与医院服务之间的差异以及医疗保健的转变。实施年龄友好型医院的后果可分为三个主题：促进老年人的健康、功能和福祉，提高对医院体验的满意度，以及提升医院服务水平。
通过清晰地理解年龄友好型医院的内涵，我们的理论定义为评估和改善老年人医院设施提供了更系统的方法。本文提出的理论定义可作为该概念操作化的起点，这将有助于优化未来的年龄友好型医院标准并开展实证研究。
