Table 1. Major Themes and Noted Advantages and Concerns.

Table 1
Major Themes and Noted Advantages and Concerns
Themes	Noted advantages	Noted concerns
Patient home-setting	More complete medication & supplement review	Fewer resources (e.g., medical equipment, medications, lab results) than clinical setting
	More time for patient to prepare
	More time with the patient
	Slower pace allowed more thorough discussion	Less formal/professional than clinical setting
	Patient “in their natural setting”
	Patient “more comfortable in their space”
Relationship building	More time to build relationship and get “the whole story”	Visit could be time-consuming
	Better communication - more time to listen to patient
	More time to ensure understanding, write out clear instructions
	Learning the right questions to ask
Insight into the aging process	Obtain “a better picture of what their life is like” than if in office	Seeing patients at their best in home setting
	Enhanced ability to access patient environmental risks (falls in environment)
	Awareness of finances, economic issues
	Greater ability to access quality of life issues like independence and loneliness
	Appreciation for how elderly manage complex polypharmacy issues
	Greater insight to social issues and support
Compassion	Gained awareness of importance of listening	Expressed concerns about society not understanding barriers elderly face
	Improved empathy for their concerns with medications and lifestyle	Elderly being marginalized in medical care
	Improved patience	Life expectancy increasing but society needs better understanding of how to manage elder care
	Insight into the importance of spending time with elderly patients
Program design	Rewarding program	Patients independent & self-sufficient; need for more diverse sample of elderly
	Patients were well selected – diverse but open patient group	Need for more time allotted for the visits
	Enjoyed working in pairs of two	Would like to see patients from less privileged backgrounds to better understand wider range of elderly issues (compliance, medication affordability, etc)
	Workbook helpful	Geographical issues (e.g., transportation issues in getting to home visit sites)
	“Continuity” of care – saw same patient for return visit
Future quality of care	Better insight in geriatrics as a career choice	Feasibility of home-visits due to time and geographical constraints as physician
	More confidence in working with elderly patients
	Improved understanding of elderly issues would impact future care of elderly patients regardless of specialty
	Better grasp of “what questions” to ask elderly patients