Improving Quality of Life for Older People in Long-Stay Care ...

Figure 6.2: Age profile of long-stay residents by facility typeWelfare homes(n = 14)District/Community hospitals(n = 27)Voluntary homes/hospitals(n = 34)Public homes/hospitals(n = 37)Private nursing homes(n = 199)All facilities(n = 311)0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%Less than 65 years65-74 years 75-84 years 85-94 years 95+ yearsJust under 10 per cent of all residents can be described as being in long-stay care forpredominantly social reasons (Figure 6.3). This is a similar result to that generatedby the DoHC and published as part of the national Long-Stay Activity Statistics. Thenumbers admitted for social reasons 9 vary considerably among types of facility withwelfare homes having by far the highest proportion of residents (24 per cent) in thiscategory. This is not surprising given the role of welfare homes in catering for lessphysically dependent older people who may have nobody to look after them in thecommunity. Public geriatric hospitals and district/community hospitals contain thelowest proportion of older people admitted for predominantly social reasons. Thisis again not surprising given the more interventionist nature of care in these twotypes of facility and their overall higher dependency levels.115Figure 6.3: Percentage of long-stay residents admitted for predominantlysocial reasons by facility typeWelfare homes(n = 14)District/Community hospitals(n = 29)Voluntary homes/hospitals(n = 32)Public homes/hospitals(n = 35)Private nursing homes(n = 189)All facilities(n = 299)0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%9 A social admission is admission for reasons other than physical disability. The reasons for admissionare numerous but are related to a person’s personal circumstances, for example fear for personalsafety, isolation or loneliness.