title: [Discharge planning of elderly patients in need of care].
abstract: The following article is based on a survey about the perception of elderly patients concerning their discharge from hospital. This includes all activities carried out at the hospital to prepare the patients for further treatment and care after discharge if necessary. 63 elderly patients from the department of internal medicine of a general hospital in Lower Saxony were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire. The results of this survey show that many patients interviewed were neither feeling informed nor did they learn how to cope with the situation after discharge from hospital. A quarter of all interviewed patients realized neither their involvement nor the involvement of their family in planning the essential steps required for the time of discharge from hospital. We found out that being involved in discharge planning has a great influence not only on the satisfaction with the preparation for discharge from hospital but with the entire hospital care.
authors.affiliation: Zentrum für Angewandte Gesundheitswissenschaften der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Lüneburg. hartwig@leuphana.de
authors.forename: Jör
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hartwig
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Janzen
authors.forename: Heiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Waller
mesh_terms: D000359:Aftercare / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000193:education; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005858:Germany; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012648:Self Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires