Senior alert - more than just a Quality Register

Senior alert is a national quality register that aims to ensure a preventative approach within the areas of

• Pressure ulcers – Norton or Risk Assessment Pressure Sores
• Malnutrition – Mini Nutritional Assessment or SKR - nutrition
• Fall prevention – Downton Fall Risk Index or SKR- Fall
• Poor oral health - Revised Oral Assessment Guide (ROAG)
• Bladder dysfunction - Nikola

Learn more bye watching the movie; Working with Senior alert, improvements that make a difference

Senior Alert is based on an overall approach with 4 key ingredients:

1. Registration in the quality register
2. A preventative approach
3. Reflection on results 
4. Improvement

Senior Alert is aimed at all professionals and organizations in the field of health and social care, from homecare facilities to hospitals to nursing homes.

By working with risk assessments, actions taken and improvements built on data from the register in daily life, added value is created. These are the four important ingrediences:

1. Registration in the quality register

The register supports a systematic approach in which all the steps of the preventative care policy are recorded by hand.

The steps are

• Risk assessment
• The underlying causes of risk
• Planning of preventative measures
• Events such as falls, ulcers, weight, poor oral health
• Follow-up and closure.

Registration in Senior Alert is the organisation's own basis for continuous improvement efforts.  All registration can be followed online over time and extracted as reports.

To use the quality register, it is required that the organisation is connected to the Senior Alert IT system. Information and notifications are available on this website.

2. Preventative approaches

The goal of Senior alert is to prevent falls, ulcers, malnutrition, poor oral health and bladder dysfunction, but also to promote health. Systematics and structure are prerequisites for the success of a preventative approach.

Risk assessment

The first step in a preventative approach, is to work with the person to identify possible risk in the five areas focused. For this, various standardised assessment techniques are used.  Knowledge of the individual's risk factors form the basis for the preventative measures that should be carried out.

Team-based investigation of the underlying causes

To allow for the right measures to be taken, the underlying causes of the risks must be identified. The individual, together with the team, with its various skills, is important for highlighting the causes on the basis of different perspectives.

Preventative actions/interventions

When the risks and underlying causes are determined, planned and implemented preventative measures can be carried out based on the individual's needs. The preventative measures within each area in Senior Alert are based on evidence and described in accordance with what in Sweden is called "KVÅ" - Classification of Healthcare Measures (from the National Board of Health and Welfare).

The procedures carried out by Senior alert are built on a team-based approach where multiple professional groups are involved.

Events

It is important to know that, with regard to falls, pressure sores, weight loss and poor oral health,  prevention is effective. Everything that happens/events are to be followed up.

Follow-up

The Senior alert  team follow up the preventative measures. At the follow-up stage the team will investigate what steps have been carried out, and whether pressure sores/ulcers, weight loss, poor oral health and bladder dysfunction/incontinence have been incurred.

Should the desired results not have been accomplished, then a decision will be made regarding additional alternative measures, together with a new follow-up procedure.

Closure

Closure is determined when an individual is deregistered, moves or dies.

In a preventative approach, risk evaluation is fundamental and in everyday work activities, the focus is on prevention and follow-ups.

3. Reflecting on the results

The reports from Senior alert enable users, units and management to follow their own preventative approach. They can also see the result of a past event regarding the five areas focused.

You can get reports for different target groups and aims to support the transformation from believing to knowing.

The reports are designed to show overall improvement over time for the individual, the unit and/or the whole organization. Data may also be used for comparisons.
By reflecting on results, improvement work is stimulated.

4. Improvements

Working with Senior alert encourages employees and managers to work with continuous improvements, where the person's needs and values are the most important thing focused and where added value is created.

By analyzing and reflecting on its results, the working place, unit or system can identify areas for improvement, set goals, try different ideas, measure and follow up.

Small changes are tested systematically using the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check and Act). It is all about reducing the gap between the current situation and the desired position.