UTILIZATION OF LONG TERM HEALTH CARE: A HOSPITAL CHANNELING PROGRAM.
Item
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Title
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UTILIZATION OF LONG TERM HEALTH CARE: A HOSPITAL CHANNELING PROGRAM.
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Identifier
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AAI8319766
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identifier
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8319766
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Creator
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GARNER, JOY DIANNE.
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Contributor
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Simon Slavin
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Date
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1983
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social Work
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Abstract
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As the number of people needing long term care expands, a critical issue is the appropriate utilization of long term care services. As such, "channeling" has surfaced as an important consideration. Channeling is a mechanism for appropriately linking elderly clients to services on the continuum of home health to institutional care. The purpose of this study was to assess outcomes of a channeling project implemented in a large, general hospital in central Arkansas.;The research targeted two groups of hospitalized patients. The two groups selected for comparison were a 100% sample of persons who were 65 years of age or older, in need of long term care, and referred by physicians for discharge planning. A standardized assessment instrument was used by the department social workers for discharge planning with the experimental group. The social work staff continued to complete the traditional, open-ended assessment and discharge planning activities with the control group.;It was hypothesized that the use of a standardized instrument would result in increased accuracy and consistency of assessment, an increase in the appropriate utilization of long term care services, increased patient/family involvement in the decision-making process, and a decreased number of premature nursing home placements.;Variables examined included: demographics of the groups, levels of impairment, number of diagnoses and prescription medications, number of interviews and amount of time spent by the social worker, outcomes relative to initial physician's orders, post-discharge satisfaction with the decision-making process, and a comparison of discharge outcomes.;The discharge outcomes between the experimental and control groups were comparable. While the department was prepared to implement a formalized channeling program in the hospital, findings did not merit such a change. The experimental group did report significantly less satisfaction with the decision-making process, suggesting that the experimental patient's perception of involvement was negatively affected. The findings supported the effectiveness of professional social workers in assessing need for post-hospital long term care and linking elderly clients to those services.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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D.S.W.
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Program
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Social Work
