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Oldest Old in General Practice

How can treatment be improved in the last years of our life?

General Practice is the primary provider of health care in Denmark from cradle to grave and has consequently the main responsibility for coordinating care and treating most chronic diseases.

GPs incorporate their patient's needs and preferences when providing healthcare to their patients, but huge variation in quality and services provided by general practice can be observed. Even though old people account for the majority of the GPs’ consultations, research has not addressed the quality of care and services provided to old people in the last years of their lives, and how these matters relate to functioning, well-being and socioeconomic position.

Survey information on functioning and perceived well-being of Danes born between 1895 and 1915 combined with the Danish registers are a perfect match to investigate time trends among the oldest old in a general practice setting as well as the interaction with the rest of the health care sector.

  1. Have health care management changed over time for different chronic diseases in the general practice, and how do patients and health care professionals perceive health care provided by GPs?
  2. To what extent are level of function, socioeconomic position and existence of chronic diseases associated with health care management in general practice, and how have the observed pattern(s) changed over time?
  3. To what extent has the perception of well-being changed over time and how is this linked to health care management?

The combination of qualitative data based on interviews with users (old patients) and health care providers as well as our our user-panel raises the potential, through this work package, to identify areas in which the services provided by general practice to the oldest old patients during the last years of their lives could be improved.


Publication

Ane Riels roman Urværk og gerontologiens ukendte

Lund NF, Jensen SG, Christensen K, Petersen K, Søndergaard J, Jensen TM, Berg AH, Mai A-M, Pedersen JK, Simonsen P.
Dansk Gerontologisk Selskab: Tidsskriftet Gerontologi, 2022.


Dementia and Society Risk Prevention Factors and Non-Pharmacological of Dementia

Boch D’Hooge R, Van der Jeugd A, Engelborghs S, Waldorff F, Vandenbulcke M.
I: Dementia and Society - an interdisciplinary approach.
Cambridge University Press, 2022. Chapter 8.


Experiences of becoming widowed in old age - a cross-countries study with qualitative interviews from Denmark and quantitative measures of association in a Swedish sample

Blanner C, Elliott A, Hjorth P, Søndergaard J, Mattisson C & Andersen K.
International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being. dec. 2021;16(1);1871181.

“I simply don't know, because I don't know which drugs I get”: Perspectives on deprescribing among older adults with limited life expectancy and their relatives

Graabæk T, Lundby C, Ryg J, Søndergaard J, Pottegård A & Nielsen DS.
Basic and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology; jan. 2021,128(1):115-127.

Attitudes towards deprescribing: The perspectives of geriatric patients and nursing home residents

Lundby C, Glans P, Simonsen T, Søndergaard J, Ryg J, Lauridsen HH & Pottegård A.
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2021.

Activities of daily living at hospital admission associated with mortality in geriatric patients with dementia: a Danish nationwide population-based cohort study

Veedfald T, Andersen-Ranberg K, Waldorff F, Anru PL, Masud T & Ryg J.
European Geriatric Medicine. 2021.

Brief Assessment of Impaired Cognition Questionnaire (BASIC-Q)-Development and validation of a new tool for identification of cognitive impairment in community settings

Jørgensen K, Nielsen TR, Nielsen A, Waldorff FB, Waldemar G.

Int J Geriatr Psychiatry2020 Jul;35(7):693-701. PubMed 


"… Above All, It's a Matter of This Person's Quality of Life"

Health Care Professionals' Perspectives on Deprescribing in Older Patients With Limited Life Expectancy.
Lundby C, Graabæk T, Ryg J, Søndergaard J, Pottegaard A, Nielsen DS. 
Gerontologist. 2020 Apr;60(3):439-449.  PubMed 


Revisiting the trajectory of medical students' empathy, and impact of gender, specialty preferences and nationality: A systematic review

Andersen FA, Johansen ASB, Søndergaard J, Andersen CM, Assing Hvidt E.
BMC Med Educ. 2020 Feb;20(1):52. PubMed


Development in Danish medical students' empathy: Study protocol of a cross-sectional and longitudinal mixed-methods study

Assing Hvidt E, Søndergaard J, Hvidt NC, Wehberg S, Büssing A, Andersen CM.
BMC Med Educ. 2020 Feb;20(1):54. PubMed


2019


Hvordan griber vi det kommende nære sundhedsvæsen an?

Pedersen KM, Pedersen LV, Søndergaard J. 
Ugeskrift for Laeger. 2019 Dec.


Older multimorbid patients' experiences on integration of services: a systematic review

Boye LK, Mogensen CB, Mechlenborg T, Waldorff FB, Andersen PT.

BMC Health Serv Res. 2019 Nov;19(1):795. PubMed


Brief Assessment of Impaired Cognition (BASIC)-Validation of a new dementia case-finding instrument integrating cognitive assessment with patient and informant report.

Jørgensen K, Nielsen TR, Nielsen A, Waldorff FB, Høgh P, Jakobsen S, Gottrup H, Vestergaard K, Waldemar G.

Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2019 Nov;34(11):1724-1733. PubMed


Hvad hvis sygehusene og det nære sundhedsvæsen bytter plads?

Inspirationen til organiseringen af fremtidens danske sundhedssektor kan komme fra Israel, hvor man er gået all in på det nære sundhedsvæsen.
Schloss J, Søndergaard J.
Tidsskrift for Dansk Sundhedsvæsen. 2019 Jun; 95(4):24-29.


Workload and empathy in general practice

Charles JA, Ahnfeldt-Mollerup P, Søndergaard J, Kristensen T.
I: Linde P (red.): Symposium i Anvendt Statistik 2019, s. 65-79; Københavns Universitet, 2019.


Health care professionals' attitudes towards deprescribing in older patients with limited life expectancy: a systematic review

Lundby C, Graabaek T, Ryg J, Søndergaard J, Pottegård A, Nielsen D.

Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2019 May;85(5):868-892. PubMed


The Effect of Economic Assets on Mortality in Patients with Dementia: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Bebe A, Siersma V, Kragstrup J, Nielsen ABS, Møller A, Søndergaard J, Rós Nicolaisdóttir D, Waldorff FB.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2019 Apr;67(4):1245-1253. PubMed


Polyfarmaci og almen praksis

Andersen JS, Bro F, Søndergaard J, Thomsen JL.

Ugeskr Laeger. 2019 Jan 21;181(4). Ugeskriftet


Intergenerational relations and social mobility: Social inequality in physical function in old age

Jørgensen TSH, Nilsson CJ, Lund R, Siersma V, Fors S.

Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2019 Jan;80:58-64. PubMed


Mobility limitation as determinant of primary care use and ambulatory care sensitive conditions

Jørgensen TSH, Siersma V, Lund R, Nilsson CJ.
Eur Geriatr Med. 2019 Feb;10(1):53-60.


Digital Recruitment and Acceptance of a Stepwise Model to Prevent Chronic Disease in the Danish Primary Care Sector: Cross-Sectional Study

Larsen LB, Sondergaard J, Thomsen JL, Halling A, Sønderlund AL, Christensen JR, Thilsing T.

J Med Internet Res. 2019 Jan 21;21(1):e11658. PubMed


Tools for Deprescribing in Frail Older Persons and Those with Limited Life Expectancy: A Systematic Review

Thompson W, Lundby C, Graabaek T, Nielsen DS, Ryg J, Søndergaard J, Pottegård A.

J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019 Jan;67(1):172-180. PubMed


2018


Use of preventive home visits by general practitioners in patients diagnosed with dementia

Orup Larsen AS, Kristensen T, Lykkegaard J, Waldorff FB.

Dan Med J. 2018 Dec;65(12). PubMed


'I've put diabetes completely on the shelf till the mental stuff is in place' 

How patients with doctor-assessed impaired self-care perceive disease, self-care, and support from general practitioners. A qualitative study.

Kristensen MAT, Guassora AD, Arreskov AB, Waldorff FB, Hølge-Hazelton B.

Scand J Prim Health Care. 2018 Sep;36(3):342-351. PubMed


How well do general practitioners know their elderly patients' social relations and feelings of loneliness?

Due TD, Sandholdt H, Siersma VD, Waldorff FB.

BMC Fam Pract. 2018 Feb 26;19(1):34. PubMed


Social relations and loneliness among older patients consulting their general practitioner

Due TD, Sandholdt H, Waldorff FB.

Dan Med J. 2017 Mar;64(3). PubMed

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Last Updated 30.06.2025