title: Perceived need for community geriatric services: a survey at a regional hospital in Singapore in an inpatient setting.
abstract: Our primary aim was to study the need for community services as perceived by the elderly and their relatives. A secondary objective was to determine the predictive factors of need for these services. This is a survey of 115 consecutive non-institutionalised patients admitted to a hospital geriatric department and their relatives. Twenty-seven elderly patients without cognitive impairment and 115 relatives were interviewed as to their need for community services after discharge. Services most needed by patients were: 24-hour medical helpline (33%), emergency alarm system (19%), social helpline (14%) and day care centre (13%). Services most needed by relatives were: 24-hour medical helpline (70%), emergency alarm system (40%), home visits by doctors (40%), respite care (35%), day care centre (35%) and transport service (33%). There were low levels of need for home help service, meal delivery service and the befriender service. Important predictive factors of need were: low ECAQ (Elderly Cognitive Assessment Questionnaire) score, low Barthel score, and absence of a carer. The development of community geriatric services in Singapore should be guided by the perceived needs of the elderly and their relatives/care-givers. This study is limited by its hospital-based perspective and small numbers. We recommend that further community-based studies be carried out to complement our study and extend our findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Alexandra Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ang
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D012846:Singapore