[Psychogeriatric emergency admissions in the area Eindhoven and the Kempen]

In the Netherlands a special arrangement between the Regional Institute for Outpatient Mental Health Care (RIAGG) and nursing homes exists in region Eindhoven to deal with emergency admissions of psychogeriatric patients. Such an arrangement is necessary, because of long waiting lists for psychogeriatric nursing homes. This article describes the circumstances of 47 patients, who were admitted by this special arrangement. The group which had not been known before the crisis by RIAGG or nursing home (n = 21) is compared to those who had already been waiting some time for admission (n = 26). It appears that in the latter group the burden on the care taker becomes too heavy due to behavioural disturbances of the patient, while in the first group the coping abilities of the system decline due to acute illness or death of the care taker.