Evaluating Quebec's Red-Cross Intervention

With the COVID-19 pandemic, elderly people (EP) living at home have seen their health deteriorated, thus increasing their needs in support and care. Indeed, while it was estimated that before the pandemic120 000 unattended living at home EP required care and services (taking bath, access to medication and food, etc.), the number doubled after COVID-19. Therefore, the waiting list for socio-medical services for unattended vulnerable clientele without a family doctor grew from 1300 to 1715 EP in a couple of months during the pandemic. With these numbers, it becomes clear that an intervention is needed. Truly, the Institut National d'Excellence en Santé et Services Sociaux (INESSS) concludes that it was pivotal to first identify the most vulnerable EP and second re-orient them according to their needs.

Thus the principal investigator developed the Évaluation et orientation SOcio-GÉRiatrique (ESOGER) questionnaire available on a secure digital platform enabling both a rapid evaluation and intervention to asses EP needs and provide the adequate ressources. The principal investigator's previous research has demonstrated that ESOGER is one of the rare clinical tools of first contact in telehealth while being global, multidimensional, and equitable.

Hence, the principal investigator hypothesizes that ESOGER is a clinical tool enabling first line care by the Red-Cross to vulnerable EP without a family doctor, which will lead to an improvement in their health, autonomy and quality of life. Moreover, the principal investigator also hypothesizes that for a better deployment, the tool needs to be adapted to Red-Cross' need and EP service providers.