Table 1 Overview of the 12 included articles in the meta-ethnography

1. Hestevik et al. (2019) [39]

‘To explore how HCPs experience providing individualized nutritional care within the organizational frames of acute geriatric hospital care and home care’ ([39] p. 2)

1) Meeting patients with complex nutritional problems 2) The structure of nutritional care

2. Hestevik et al. (2020) [40]

‘To explore older patients’ and family caregivers’ perceptions regarding the food, meals and nutritional care provided in the transition between hospital and home the first 30 days at home’ ([40] p. 2)

1) The need for a comprehensive approach to nutritional care 2) Non-individualised nutritional care at home 3) Lack of mutual comprehension and shared decision making 4) The role of family caregivers

3. Hestevik et al. (2020) [41]

‘To explore HCPs’ views on how older persons and their family caregivers participate in decisions about their own nutritional care and possible barriers for that participation’ ([41] p. 199)

1) Lack of shared decision making in nutritional care 2) Conflict between patients’ preferences and standard nutritional care procedures 3) The value of family caregivers who are seldom involved in nutritional care

4. Kvæl et al. (2019) [42]

‘To explore older patients’ and their relatives’ experiences and preferences regarding patient participation in IC and identify types of patient participation and their potential empowering or disempowering effect’ ([42] p. 2)

1) Lack of choice and expectation of compliance 2) The need of a rehabilitation perspective and reciprocal engagement 3) Patient participation meeting experts’ views

5. Kvæl et al. (2019) [43]

‘To explore how HCPs, experience patient participation in IC, and explain how they perform their clinical work balancing between the patients’ needs, resources and regulatory constraints’ ([43] p. 923)

1) The purchaser-provider model and standardisation of patient participation 2) Intermediate care as a storage facility losing its rehabilitative function 3) Lack of professional discretion and empowerment of HCPs

6. Kvæl et al. (2020) [44]

‘To explore the negotiation of patient participation in family meetings in IC services, by observing the interactions between the older patient, their relatives, and the HCPs in IC’ ([44] p. 812)

1) Patients’ needs for masquerade to participate 2) The strategies of relatives in coming across 3) Professionals’ roles in defining the situation

7. Lilleheie et al. (2020) [45]

‘To explore the experiences of older patients and informal caregivers in the first 30 days after the patient’s discharge with a special focus on the burden of care’ ([45] p. 2)

1) Bridging the gap 2) Family is family 3) Never enough 4) Stress and distress

8. Lilleheie et al. (2020) [46]

‘To explore older patients’ informal caregivers’ views on healthcare quality in the hospital and in the first 30 days after hospitalisation’ ([46] p. 2)

1) Fast in, fast out 2) Scant information 3) Disclaimer of responsibility 4) The struggle to secure professional care

9. Lilleheie et al. (2020) [47]

‘To explore older patients’ experiences of the quality of the health services in hospital and the first 30 days at home after discharge’ ([47] p. 2)

1) Hospital stays and the person behind the diagnosis 2) Poor communication and coordination 3) Life after discharge 4) Patients’ relationship with their next of kin 5) Organisational and systemic determinants

10. Olsen et al. (2020) [48]

‘To explore health care providers’ perceptions and experiences regarding “What matters to you?” in the context of improving transitional care for older, chronically ill persons’ ([48] p. 3)

1) WMTY [what matters to you] is a complex process that needs to be framed competently 2) Framing WMTY as a functional approach 3) Framing WMTY as a relational approach

11. Olsen et al. (2021) [49]

‘To explore HCPs’ experiences and understandings of implementing a care pathway to improve the quality of transitional care for older people’ ([49] p. 3)

1) Understanding the care pathway as patient flow 2) Understanding the care pathway as the patient’s journey 3) The dilemma between improving patient flow and the patient’s journey

12. Olsen et al. (2021) [50]

‘To explore HCPs’ perceptions and experiences of what is important to achieve more person-centered patient pathways for older people’ ([50] p. 3)

1) Finding common ground through the mapping of the patient journey 2) The importance of understanding the whole patient pathway 3) The significance of getting to know the older patient 4) The key role of home care providers in the patient pathway 5) Ambiguity towards checklists and practice implementation