Social support of patients attending a geriatric day hospital

A longitudinal survey of the social support of patients attending one geriatric day hospital confirmed an impression that support was not being adjusted to meet the changing degrees of dependency among the patients. An experimental study, in which the social support available to a small group of consecutive new admissions was reduced, showed that their dependency scores were not significantly different from those of a control group which continued to receive support. The significance of this finding in reducing the cost of day hospital care is discussed.