Exploring the Age-Friendly Health Systems Framework in Memory Care Centres: A protocol for a mixed-methods study

<ns3:p> Introduction Age-Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) have demonstrated improved outcomes for older adults. However, there is currently no evidence that explores the implementation process of AFHS in long-term residential care settings. The overall aim of this study is to explore the implementation process of an Age-Friendly Health System for older adults in Mowlams’ Memory Care Centres in Ireland. Methods The conceptual framework for an AFHS designed by Karami <ns3:italic>et al.</ns3:italic> (2023) will be employed to delineate the dimensions of the AFHS within the Mowlam Memory Care residential centres. This framework defines an AFHS as being made up of eight core dimensions including governance, resources, service delivery, intermediate objectives, goals, stakeholders, information and an age friendly environment. This study will map activities to this framework using a mixed-methods. Older adults who are residents in one of the two Mowlam Memory Care residential centres; older residents’ families and those important to them; staff members at each Memory Care residential centre will be eligible for inclusion. Focus groups and one-to-one interviews will be performed with participants from each stakeholder group. Findings will be reported in accordance with the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) checklist. Qualitative data will be analysed thematically. Over a period of eight months, a prospective cohort study will be conducted to investigate clinical and patient-reported outcomes, as well as the various elements of care received by older adult residents in the Memory Care centres. Descriptive statistics will be employed to characterise the study participants, while multivariate logistic and linear regression analyses will be utilised to evaluate the risk of adverse outcomes. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for this study was granted. Findings will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and disseminated in the form of presentations at national and international conferences. </ns3:p>