Among the clients in a geriatric intermediate care facility located in the suburbs of Osaka and their family caregivers (72 subjects), the characteristics of the clients and their caregivers, and the discharge destination desired by their family caregivers were investigated, and the associated factors were evaluated.
1. Characteristics of the clients
The clients were elderly females with a low degree of independence, and dementia was observed in about 60% of them. The clients had a relatively large number of children, but many of them lived alone before admission.
The rate of admission from hospitals was high (54%), and that of discharge to hospitals was also high (50%). Sixty-seven percent of the clients stayed for a long duration of over 6 months.
2. Conditions of the family caregivers
Most of the family caregivers were daughters or daughters-in-law, and considered themselves to be healthy. Sixty-three percent of the caregivers had jobs. However, most of the caregivers did not have sub-caregiver.
3. Factors related to the discharge destination desired by family caregivers
Not many family caregivers (19.4%) wanted them to go back to their homes after discharge, but their preferred discharge destinations were home (19.4%), hospitals (55.5%), and nursing homes (25.1%).
The caregivers of single household clients often desired a nursing home as the discharge destination, and those of the clients from a 2- or 3-generation household often desired a hospital.
The factors related to the discharge destination desired by client's family caregivers were that the client not show dementia, the job of the caregiver was a part-time job, there was a sub-caregiver, and the client had the experience of home public health nursing visits.
This study showed, the percentage of the clients discharged from the geriatric intermediate care facility to their homes was low, and that of the family caregivers who desired their home as the discharge destination was also low. However, the results suggested that leading the discharge destination to the client's home is possible if social resources are provided such as the use of public health nursing services.