Health characteristics of elderly personal care home residents

The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the health characteris tics of elderly personal care home residents. Personal care homes are commu nity-based facilities that provide living arrangements, assistance with bas ic needs and protective oversight. Personal care home providers were interv iewed regarding the health status of 80 elderly residents. The most frequen t ADL needs were bathing, personal hygiene and dressing. Thirty-seven per c ent of the residents had some bladder incontinence. Eighty-two per cent of residents needed some help with medication management. Over half of the res idents had some cognitive impairment. These findings support the propositio n of increased prevalence of cognitive impairment in personal care home res idents as compared to the first studies a decade ago. The combination of fu nctional deficits and cognitive impairment indicates that these elderly res idents may have unmet health needs. The role of the registered nurse in thi s environment is discussed.