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REVIEW OF RESULTS IN A GERIATRIC INTENSIVE TREATMENT UNIT: SOME PROSPECTS
Author(s) -
RISDORFER EMERICH N.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1970.tb04118.x
Subject(s) - medicine , rehabilitation , resocialization , intensive care unit , geriatrics , university hospital , pediatrics , physical therapy , emergency medicine , intensive care medicine , psychiatry , social science , sociology
A bstract : A Geriatric Intensive Treatment Unit was established in Binghamton State Hospital under the Broome County Unitized Program. The aim was: 1) to rehabilitate newly admitted patients over 65 years of age, and 2) to resocialize geriatric patients over 65 previously in other units of the hospital for long periods (one year to fifty‐three years) so that they could be discharged from the institution. In the first ten months—June 1, 1968 to March 31, 1969–59 per cent of the 96 newly admitted geriatric patients were rehabilitated and returned to society. Their average hospital stay was 38.5 days—a distinct reduction in the length of stay for newly admitted patients. Almost 50 per cent of the 278 long‐term patients left the Intensive Treatment Unit in the 1968–69 period; 27 per cent were returned to the community. Milieu therapy, modified for the geriatric service, was used for rehabilitation and resocialization. Members of a small but well oriented and dedicated staff represented the family and society to the patients, as a therapeutic community in a “one to one” therapy program. Male and female patients of both short‐term and long‐term groups mixed together in activities. This beneficially influenced the rehabilitation and re‐socialization process. In the interests of continuity of care, it seems desirable that the Geriatric Intensive Treatment Unit, rather than the Outpatient Clinic, supervise the management of these patients after discharge from the hospital.