Efficiency of institutional long-term care and annual demands for placement

The objective of this study was to determine the efficiency of and annual demands for institutional long-term care placement in the St. John's region. The study population comprised all applicants assessed for institutional long-term care through the Community Health St. John's Region Single Entry System in 1995-96. The outcome measures used for the study included estimates of client resource utilization employing the RUGs III and Alberta Resident Classification System; hospital beds occupied; time to placement; and annual demands on long-term care. The study concludes that objective criteria for admission to supervised care and nursing home care may help reduce the number of inappropriate placements (thus maximizing the use of existing nursing home beds) and decrease annual demands. Investment in alternatives to nursing home care for those with modest disability is suggested.