Continuity of care during long-term care transitions: a scoping review of the Canadian literature

Background Patients who maintain longitudinal provider-patient relationships experience better overall health outcomes. However, most older adults in Canada lose contact with their family physician when they enter long-term care (LTC) as new providers assume responsibility for their care. There is relatively little known about the contextual factors, processes, knowledge, and health professions education antecedents that promote the benefits of relational, management, and informational care continuity during LTC transitions. Methods Using a rigorous scoping review method, we searched multiple databases systematically to identify and scrutinize peer-reviewed articles pertaining to continuity of care during LTC transitions in Canada. Guided by Transitions Theory, two independent reviewers screened citations and extracted data. A descriptive analytical method was employed to categorize content into themes. Results Eight articles met the inclusion criteria. Our findings confirm that instances of relational continuity are very few during LTC transitions, suggesting barriers associated with practice models and the influence of physician characteristics. Notably, the review also highlights that the involvement of interprofessional team members, patients, and their partners-in-care in transition planning could improve informational and management care continuity for patients as they move into LTC. Conclusion Patient and family involvement, provider training, and practice and funding arrangements are all critical to improving relational, management, and informational care continuity during LTC transition. We recommend more studies to understand processes and policies to optimize informational continuity as a panacea for the often-disrupted relational continuity.