The need for care among applicants for admission to old age and nursing homes
Jacobsen, G.; Bentsen, B.G.
Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening Tidsskrift for Praktisk Medicin Ny Raekke 104(19-21): 1330-1333
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-2001 PMID: 6740636 Document Number: 229395
The steady increase in number of applicants for long-term care in institutions, i.e. old age and nursing homes, is a constant worry to all concerned. An assessment of the needs of care of an 8% randomized sample of 967 registered applicants was made. The sample was reduced as 1/3 of the applicants had either moved, were dead, taken care of elsewhere, or refused to take part. The remaining 50 applicants were visited in their homes. An assessment was made of their medical, social and functional abilities and disabilities, by a doctor and a nurse in cooperation with the applicant and the family. Data recording included a summary and conclusion about the needed level of care. Twenty-two percent of the applicants were in urgent need of a permanent stay in a nursing home; 12% in an old age home; 20% in local authority homes for pensioners; 40% could remain in their own homes, while 6% had no need for care. Sampling methods and data recording of applicants are discussed. A randomized sample of all persons aged 70 or more would probably give the most representative results. Such a sample would include both applicants and nonapplicants for care of this kind. The need for certain health and social functions in a population is assessed on the basis of the results of this study. When the study took place, there was an urgent need for home nurses, home helpers, general practitioners, nursing homes and homes for pensioners. From 1979 to 1982 there has been a steady increase in the number of home nurses, home helpers, homes for pensioners and general practitioners. Care on an institutional level has shown no such increase during the same period. The forthcoming old age wave makes the future gloomy.