Development and psychometric evaluation of transition of care for older adults scale: Barriers and facilitators (TOCAS-BF)

Background: Healthcare systems strive to improve hospital-to-home transitions for older adults, but existing tools often miss key facilitators and barriers. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a tool for assessing the facilitators of and barriers to effective transitional care for older adults and to evaluate its psychometric properties.Methods: A methodological study was conducted from September 2023 to February 2024 with 229 older adult volunteers to develop and test the tool.Results: The Transition of Care for Older Adults Scale is a 32-item scale with a 4-factor structure accounting for 52 % of the total variance explained. The indicators of confirmatory factor analysis were satisfactory. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for reliability was 0.925, indicating an optimal score.Conclusion: The Transition of Care for Older Adults Scale supports nurses in improving discharge planning, follow-up, and family support, while aiding educators in teaching strategies and researchers in studying care models and policies.