AMBULATORY ELDERLY PATIENTS OF PRIMARY-CARE PHYSICIANS - FUNCTIONAL, PSYCHOSOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTORS OF NEED FOR SOCIAL-WORK CAREMANAGEMENT

With increasing numbers of elderly people, and the escalating costs of health care, screening becomes increasingly important for identifying those older people with social health care needs who appear in their primary care physicians' offices. Many people are not aware of availab le social services. Families with serious social problems are not find ing the help they need. The aim of this study was to develop and refin e a questionnaire as a screening tool to identify elderly outpatients in primary care settings who are at high risk for psychological, socia l or environmental needs. This study identified those ten factors at e ach site which were most indicative that further intervention was need ed. There were consistencies among the coordinators across sites in te rms of what factors triggered intervention. Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) were more likely to be predictive of the coordinator's intervention than were ot her factors.