Needs assessment of elderly people living in Polish nursing homes

IntroductionDemographic aging of the Polish population is becoming a challenge for health and social policy, similarly to other European countries. It is also seen as one of the most important causes for developing formal long-term care.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to analyse the complex needs of residents of nursing homes over 75 years old in different Polish cities from different perspectives and to explore the unmet need associations of health-related factors.Material and methodsThe sample consisted of 300 randomly selected people over 75 years old from different nursing homes in three metropolises: Wroclaw, Poznan and Lublin. The detailed needs were assessed using the CANE questionnaire and psychophysical condition was based on MMSE, GDS and BI.ResultsComparison of needs examined from three different perspectives showed that nursing home residents reported significantly fewer problems than nursing home staff and rater and significantly more unmet needs than staff. The most common areas where unmet needs were reported were company/friends and psychological distress. Moreover, the more severe the depression and the worse the cognitive functions were, the more unmet needs were reported by nursing home residents.ConclusionsIn order to improve the care provided for elderly people, it seems necessary to promote knowledge concerning wider needs of elderly patients among the employees of different geriatric care facilites. Interventions to reduce senior׳s unmet needs should be targeted at organisational and medical assessment issues. Future studies with longitudinal follow-ups are required.