Nursing home residents receive inadequate care

Elderly people in Bristol, particularly those living in nursing homes, receive inadequate care when care is judged against explicit quality indicators. Fahey and colleagues (p 580) compared the care given to 172 nursing home residents with that given to 526 controls living at home. They found that elderly people in nursing homes receive poorer quality care in terms of underuse of beneficial drugs (such as  blockers after heart attack), overuse of inappropriate drugs (such as neuroleptics), and poor monitoring of chronic disease such as diabetes. The authors say that better coordination and a continuous assessment review and evaluation scheme would improve the care of elderly people living in institutions and in the community.

(Credit: RICHARD KOLKER/PHOTONICA)

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Relevant Article

Quality of care for elderly residents in nursing homes and elderly people living at home: controlled observational study

Tom Fahey, Alan A Montgomery, James Barnes, and Jo Protheroe
BMJ 2003 326: 580. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]