Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x24gv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-15T10:18:33.028Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The admission of the elderly to places of care: a socio-psychiatric community survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

L. S. Gillis ,
R. Elk ,
L. Trichard ,
K. Le Fevre ,
A. Zabow ,
H. Joffe  and
D. J. Van Schalkwyk
L. S. Gillis*
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Clinical Psychiatry Research Unit and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South Africa
R. Elk
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Clinical Psychiatry Research Unit and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South Africa
L. Trichard
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Clinical Psychiatry Research Unit and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South Africa
K. Le Fevre
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Clinical Psychiatry Research Unit and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South Africa
A. Zabow
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Clinical Psychiatry Research Unit and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South Africa
H. Joffe
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Clinical Psychiatry Research Unit and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South Africa
D. J. Van Schalkwyk
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Clinical Psychiatry Research Unit and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, South Africa
*
1Address for correspondence: Professor L. S. Gillis, MRC Clinical Psychiatry Research Unit, Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory 7925, South Africa.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

Elderly persons over the age of 60 who were admitted for psychiatric care were compared with a random sample of persons living in the same community in respect of psychiatric, medical and socio-economic variables. The group admitted to hospital for psychiatric reasons was very similar to the latter in general characteristics. However, those people admitted to old age homes, which are the other major resource for psychiatric illness, constitute a distinctly separate population, being older and having considerably more physical illnesses and socio-economic problems. Factors predicting admission to an old age home were largely irremediable age-related conditions (dementia, physical infirmity, etc.), but there were also adverse social circumstances, including marked isolation and a lack of social and emotional support. A comparative analysis of the many psychiatric, social and medical factors is presented, with particular reference to reasons for referral and prevention of admission.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , February 1982 , pp. 159 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Cooper, B. & Sosna, V. (1978). Family settings of the psychiatrically disturbed aged. In Social Consequences of Psychiatric Illness (ed. Robins, L. N., Clayton, P. and Wing, J. K.), pp. 1–21. Brunner/Mazel: New York.Google Scholar
Dixon, W. J. & Brown, M. B. (eds.) (1977). Biomedical Computer Programmes (BMDF-77P Series). University of California Press: Berkeley.Google Scholar
Garside, R. D., Kay, D. W. K. & Roth, M. (1965). Old age mental disorders in Newcastle upon Tyne. III. A factorial study of medical, psychiatric and social characteristics. British Journal of Psychiatry 111, 939–946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillis, L. S. & Elk, R. (1981). Physical and mental incapacity in elderly White persons. A community study. South African Medical Journal 59, 147–149.Google Scholar
Gillis, L. S., Elk, R., Le Fevre, K. & Joffe, H. (1981). Reasons for referral of the elderly for psychiatric hospitalisation. South African Medical Journal 59, 150–152.Google Scholar
Grad d'Alarcón, J. (1971). Social causes and social consequences of mental illness in old age. In Recent Developments in Psychogeriatrics: a Symposium (ed. Kay, D. W. K. and Walk, A.), pp. 75–86. Headley Brothers: Ashford, Kent.Google Scholar
Kahn, R. L., Goldfarb, A. I., Pollack, M. & Peck, A. (1960). Brief objective measures for the determination of mental status in the aged. American Journal of Psychiatry 117, 326–328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kay, D. W. K., Beamish, P. & Roth, M. (1964 a). Old age mental disorders in Newcastle upon Tyne. I. A study of prevalence. British Journal of Psychiatry 110, 146–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kay, D. W. K., Beamish, P. & Roth, M. (1964 b). Old age mental disorders in Newcastle upon Tyne. II. A study of possible social and medical causes. British Journal of Psychiatry 110, 668–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Locke, B. Z., Kramer, M. & Pasamanick, B. (1960). Mental diseases of the senium at mid-century: first admissions to Ohio State Public Mental Hospitals. American Journal of Public Health 50 (7), 998–1012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lowenthal, M. F. (1964). Lives in Distress – the Paths of the Elderly to the Psychiatric Ward. Basic Books: New York.Google Scholar
Lowenthal, M. F. (1965). Antecedents of isolation and mental illness in old age. Archives of General Psychiatry 12, 245–254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nielsen, J. (1963). Geronto-psychiatrico-period prevalence investigation in a geographically delineated population. Acta psychiatrica scandinavica 38, 307–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neugarten, B. C., Havighurst, R. J. & Tobin, S. S. (1961). The measurement of life satisfaction. Journal of Gerontology 16, 134–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richardson, I. M. (1965). Retirement and health. In Psychiatric Disorders in the Aged. Geigy: Manchester.Google Scholar
Stainsbury, P., Costain, W. R. & Grad d'Alarcón, J. (1965). The effects of a community service on the referral and admission rates of elderly psychiatric patients. In Psychiatric Disorders of the Aged, pp. 23–37. Geigy: Manchester.Google Scholar
Simon, A. & Neal, M. M. (1960). Patterns of geriatric mental illness. II. Diagnosis and classification.In Proceedings of the 5th Congress of the International Association of Gerontology,San Francisco.Google Scholar
Townsend, P. (1957). The Family Life of Old People. Routledge and Kegan Paul: London.Google Scholar
Townsend, P. (1968). The effects of family structure on the likelihood of admission to an institution in old age. In Old People in Three Industrial Societies (ed. Shanas, E.), pp. 164–183. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London.Google Scholar
Verrier-Jones, P., Pascoe, F. D., Gillis, L. S. & King, J. B. (1978). The first 100 patients in the Valkenberg Psychogeriatric Assessment Unit. South African Medical Journal 54, 113–115.Google ScholarPubMed