COMPARISON OF NURSING-HOME RESIDENTS ADMITTED FROM HOME OR HOSPITAL

A growing elderly population coupled with a reduction in hospital long term care has led to an increase in the independent nursing home sect or This is an expensive resource. Proper placement is therefore essent ial to ensure its efficient use. Prior to the introduction of care man agement there was no standard assessment procedure for admission to nu rsing home care from different sources. A nursing home population (n=6 24) in North and West Belfast was studied and mental scores, levels of disability, and the source of admission to the nursing home recorded. Residents admitted from geriatric medical units (n=132) were compared with those from general medical and surgical wards (n=168) and those from home (n=243), Residents who were admitted from a geriatric unit w ere the most disabled, those admitted from home were the least and tho se from general wards had intermediate levels of disability (p<0.005). This is likely to be the result of different assessment procedures fo r prospective nursing home residents. With the introduction of care ma nagement, it is hoped that standardised assessment will follow. The ro les of different medical specialists in this process is not yet clear. Further study is needed to assess the appropriateness of placement in nursing homes under care management.