A STUDY OF THE CHARACTERISTICS AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE TRANSFERRED FROM ACUTE HOSPITALS TO NURSING-HOMES

Objectives: To describe the categories of people being approved for ad mission to nursing homes; to consider whether any alternatives would h ave been more appropriate; and to outline the care needed for each cat egory. Participants and setting: Patients in acute-care facilities in metropolitan Perth for whom a request had been made for nursing home a dmission. Design: Patients were interviewed (by R B L and M D) and rec ords in the acute hospital were examined. A second interview of those patients still available was conducted after their transfer to the nur sing home. Results: Nursing care was considered necessary for 123 of t he 201 people seen in the acute hospitals; domestic care in a standard hostel for 24 people; care in a special dementia unit (SDU) hostel fo r 26 people; and care in a psychiatric institution for 16 people. Twel ve others had various specific needs. Several different categories wer e identified in the group needing nursing care. Conclusions: Applicant s for nursing home admission do not form a homogeneous group; there ar e several categories with different needs. SDU hostels should be added to the available facilities. In addition to undertaking the assessmen t of nursing home applicants, personnel from geriatric services should be encouraged to become involved in their continuing care.