Users of community social services for older people

Abstract

The majority of older people show a clear preference for aging and staying at home for as long as possible, whilst getting the attention that they need without being admitted into a nursing home. Precisely, avoiding or delaying institutionalization of the older people is one of the main objectives of the home help service and day centers. Ensuring an adequate quality of care through programs and community-based services involves, firstly, the convergence of the formal and informal systems of support, and secondly, with regard to the latter, the optimal match between the services provided and the needs of the users. The present study analyzes the health status at functional, cognitive and social levels of the older people that use the service of home help and day care centers. It also explores the extent to which the current user’s profile matches the objectives and their needs are met by the assistance provided by the above services, in such a way that the quality of care is ensured. The results indicate that a significant percentage of users of home help were people without significant dependence problems, which were in good condition both physically and cognitive and enjoyed a broad and committed informal social network. On the other hand, those who attended day centers had higher levels of dependency, especially at instrumental level, while the ability to perform basic activities was preserved in more than half of the cases. Thus, we found a mismatch between the needs of a significant number of users of these services and the response that is offered within them.