Exploring the Integration of Fundamentals of Care Within Strategic Age‐Friendly Hospital Frameworks: A Scoping Review

AIM: This study examines how the domains of the Fundamentals of Care (FoC) framework are integrated within age-friendly hospital strategies and to what extent patients and families have been engaged in developing, implementing or evaluating these strategies. DESIGN: Scoping review guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute's updated methodological guidance for the conduct of scoping reviews. METHODS: We reviewed empirical literature using Covidence describing the operationalization of age-friendly strategies within hospital-based care systems. We conducted a descriptive analysis to summarize the literature and used directed content analysis to deductively map the data to the FoC framework. DATA SOURCES: We conducted systematic searches of electronic databases (Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, Cochrane Central, PsycINFO and CINAHL) of empirical literature published between 1 January 2014 and 27 August 2024, with no restriction on study design and limited to English-only publications. RESULTS: We included 18 peer-reviewed papers. Most practice change initiatives map to the physical care domain of the FoC framework, followed by psychosocial care of recipients. Fewer initiatives address relational and contextual elements. Only two of 18 studies reported engaging patients or families in the development, implementation and evaluation of age-friendly initiatives. CONCLUSION: The scoping review findings provide greater insight into which of the FoC framework domains are operationalized when age-friendly strategies are implemented within hospital systems, with less attention paid to patient and caregiver engagement. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The findings can support the intentional involvement of patients and caregivers to ensure such initiatives are patient- and family-centred. These findings should also clarify elements of the FoC framework that may receive less attention when implementing age-friendly strategies, which could help support the quality care of older adults and impact patient- and provider-reported outcomes. REPORTING METHODS: We followed the PRISMA-Scoping Reviews reporting guideline. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No Patient or Public Contribution.