Psychiatric assessment wards for older adults: A qualitative evaluation oftwo ward models

This study was requested to investigate the relative strengths of two diffe rent ward arrangements. Both wards were psychiatric assessment wards for pe ople over the age of 65 and both were mixed sex wards. The major focus was to examine if the separation of cognitively impaired (CI) and functional cl ients on an elderly assessment ward had benefits in terms of client and sta ff satisfaction. The study involved 192 hours of observation, following fou r clients on each ward for 24-hours. Results indicate that the split ward a nd the mixed ward differ qualitatively and that in terms of user and staff satisfaction the split model is preferable. Implications for service develo pment and future research are also discussed. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.