TARGETING COMMUNITY-BASED, LONG-TERM CARE (NURSING HOME PLACEMENT, CAREGIVER).
Contributors: University of Utah.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 189
Subjects: Gerontology.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Public Health.
Description: This study was both descriptive and exploratory in design, utilizing a retrospective case records analysis. The purpose of the study was to describe the characteristics of participants in The Utah Alternatives Program (or TAP), the services participants received, and the risk of placement in a nursing home within 24 months following initial assessment. The records of 472 randomly selected participants, who had been prescreened and determined to be at risk of Medicaid-funded nursing home placement, were examined.

The risk of nursing home placement was analyzed across three age groups: 65-74, 75-84, and 85+. Utilizing event history analysis, findings indicate that the risk of placement is different as participants age and that the explanatory variables correlated with the risk of nursing home placement are different across age groups.

Among the young-old, aged 65-74, numerous variables are related to the risk of placement. As persons age, fewer variables are found to be related to the risk of placement in a nursing home. Among participants 75-84 years old, a primary diagnosis of dementia made elderly participants approximately nine times more likely to enter a nursing home within the 24-month follow-up period.

The presence of a caregiver in the participant's environment was negatively related to the risk of placement in all three age groups. In the old-old age group (85+), the presence of a positive caregiver relationship was the only variable to have a significant negative relationship with the risk of placement.

This study indicates that the problems of the aged need to be redefined in less medically intensive terms with an appropriate reallocation of funds to community-based alternatives. The findings suggest that future programs should be designed to identify and target services to support the demented elderly in the least restrictive setting possible. Future community-based alternative programs should, therefore, be targeted toward supporting families in their natural caregiving role; and social work practice, policy, and research should focus on further development of such alternative programs.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-11, Section: A, page: 4216.

Thesis (D.S.W.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH, 1993.

School code: 0240.