title: Residential care centers for persons with intellectual disability in Israel. Trends in the number of nursing care patients during 1998-2007.
abstract: Nursing care has changed over time and the focus has differed according to the need or the culture involved. One of the first descriptions of nursing of people with intellectual disability (ID) is from the United States at the New York Hospital around 1808. Over the next 200 years, ID nursing developed into a subspecialty in both the United States and England with a curriculum and certification. This process has yet to take place in Israel, but it is a change we would like to see in the coming years. The purpose of this paper was to look at the trend in the number of nursing patients in residential care centers for people with ID in Israel. Data were extracted from the 1998-2007 national annual surveys of all residential care centers in Israel. Over this 10-year period, we found that the number of nursing patients was fairly constant, ranging from 23.9% of the total population in 1998 to 26.5% in 2007. Whereas the percent of nursing patients has remained steady, the burden of nursing has increased. Specifically, due to the aging of this population, residential care centers are now dealing with an increased quantity and complexity of medical problems. As a result, we have experienced a need to establish, on a regional basis, long-term nursing care facilities within our residential care centers.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Health Services, Office of the Medical Director, Division for Mental Retardation, Ministry of Social Affairs, Jerusalem, Israel. jmerrick@zahav.net.il
authors.forename: Joav
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Merrick
authors.forename: Mordechai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raskas
authors.forename: Efrat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Merrick-Kenig
authors.forename: Isack
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kandel
authors.forename: Shoshanah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aspler
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000451:nursing; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D011594:Psychometrics; D012112:Residential Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult