Prevention of Relocation of the Aged in Nursing Homes

Abstract

In the period 1972-76 a descriptive and experimental socio-geriatric longitudinal investigation was carried out in the municipality of Odense. The aim of the experimental aspect was prevention of relocation of the aged in nursing homes. The practical work consisted in casefinding and social medical intervention by nurses experienced in geriatrics and in close contact with interdisciplinary groups. Emphasis was placed on familiarity with the structure of the social and health services, the provisions available, and with problem areas and deciding channels. Contact with the aged focused on gaining an overall impression of their situation, establishing mutual trust and cooperation. Aspects of the practical work that were emphasized were introduction to services, advice to the aged and personnel, coordination and follow-up for assessment of results. Twenty-three per cent of the age group 70-79 years and 51 per cent of the 80-years-olds and over were drawn randomly from the national person-register. In all, 4,128 persons were picked. They were then randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group. On December 31st, 1976, 154 persons from the intervention group and 189 from the control group had been relocated in nursing homes. The difference concerned mainly women over 80 years of age who had a statistically significant low relocation risk in the intervention group. Fewer elderly in the intervention group were relocated in nursing homes compared to controls after mid 74. Findings showed that on March 1st, 1983, duration of residence (survival) in nursing homes for the 343 persons who had taken up residency, was rather similar for both groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Preventive Home Visits for Mortality, Morbidity, and Institutionalization in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Allocation concealment was also adequate in 33 studies at low risk of bias, but unclear in 27. Two quasi-random studies were included post-hoc and were rated high risk for randomization and allocation concealment per se [23], [24], but we concluded that the methods of assignment had the desirable characteristics of randomization. One study replaced a few intervention participants and was rated high risk for sequence generation and allocation concealment [92].…”

“…Thirty papers were secondary reports of a study reported in another paper; thus, 146 studies were assessed for eligibility. Post-hoc, we included two studies (both identified in the search) in which participants were assigned using quasi-random methods that approximated the characteristics of randomization as described below [23], [24]. Sixty-four studies reported in 86 citations were included in the narrative synthesis (Table S2) [23]–[108], but three of these did not report any outcomes that could be included in a meta-analysis [36], [68], [74].…”

“…Overall, the 64 included studies assigned 28642 participants, ranging from 59 [44], [73] to 3743 [23], with a median sample size of 299 per study. Follow-up periods ranged from 3 months [44] to 60 months [23].…”

The Effectiveness and Efficiency of Home-Based Nursing Health Promotion for Older People: A Review of the Literature

“…Seven studies were conducted in Western Europe: the United Kingdom (Pathy et al 1992;Vetter, Jones, and Victor 1984), Denmark (Gunner-Svensson et al 1984;Hendriksen, Lund, and Stromgard 1984), the Netherlands (van Rossum et al 1993), Switzerland , and Italy (Bernabei et al 1998). Only two studies were conducted in the United States (Stuck et al 1995;Zimmer, Groth-Juncker, and McCusker 1985) and three studies were conducted in Canada (Dalby et al 2000;Hall et al 1992;Hebert et al 2001).…”

Structured home visits to older people. Are they only of benefit for women? A randomised controlled trial

“…This study introduces a gender perspective in the inhome assessment discussion. A Danish study from the 1970s showed an insignificant effect on nursing home relocations among women only (22). Studies have confirmed that women are more aware of local activities and more likely to adapt to lifestyle advice than men (5,23).…”