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THE TAPS PROJECT. 30: QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ELDERLY MENTALLY ILL PATIENTS—A COMPARISON OF HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY SETTINGS
Author(s) -
WILLS WALTER,
LEFF JULIAN
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199611)11:11<953::aid-gps413>3.0.co;2-7
Subject(s) - community hospital , mentally ill , observational study , medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , psychiatric hospital , gerontology , psychiatry , family medicine , psychology , nursing , mental illness , mental health
A study was mounted to compare the quality of life for psychogeriatric patients in a psychiatric hospital with that in four community residences developed as part of a reprovision programme for the hospital. The views of 61 relatives of hospital patients and 49 relatives of community patients were compared. On all the items on which the two groups of relatives differed, greater satisfaction was expressed with the community facilities. These data were supplemented with an observational study of patients’ activities in the two types of setting. Observations were made of 92 hospital patients and 82 community patients. The average percentage time spent in social contact was greater for the community patients ( p <0.009), who also spent more time having drinks between meals ( p <0.001) and being with relatives ( p <0.001). These observations confirmed the relatives’ perception that the community residences provided a less institutional environment than the hospital wards.