Accommodation Needed For Aged

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31330, 29 March 1967, Page 1

Accommodation Needed For Aged

A total of 201 old persons in Christchurch need more suitable accommodation, according to a survey by the Aged People’s Welfare Council. Of this number, 147 were found to be in urgent need, 50 were classified as being in “semi-urgent need” and four were not in urgent need. The council says this underlines the need for more accommodation in the city for the elderly, especially infirm wings attached to residential homes. “This is the second survey we have carried out and it clearly shows that there is a problem,” said the chairman of the council (Dr. H. R. Donald). “We have a large number of people calling us every day wanting accommodation—and the situation is

not improving; it is getting worse.” The results of the survey have been sent to the Minister of Health (Mr McKay), together with the council’s views on the need for more accommodation. The survey confirmed what had been known already, said the secretary (Mrs M. E. Lawrie). At least as many old people not included in the survey were also in urgent need of more suitable accommodation. Persons interviewed were on waiting lists of welfare council and church homes for the aged, as well as on the waiting list of the North Canterbury Hospital Board. The survey had been made by experienced former members of the Health Department and the Nurse Maude District Nursing Association, with the social workers of the welfare organisations concerned, Mrs Lawrie said. The need was based on

loneliness, physical and mental frailty, personal relationships and suitability of present and future accommodation, as set out in the Health Department’s recent survey form. Of the 201 persons interviewed, 58 were in their own homes, 12 were with a family, three were boarding, 34 were in private nursing homes, 15 were in short-term accommodation and 54 were in hospital. Twenty-five were out of hospital and no further details were available on this number.

Of the cases found to be urgent, 27 were considered to need residential accommodation, three residential with some night attention and 38 accommodation in an infirm wing. The remainder classified as urgent were the 79 on the Hospital Board list. Of the 50 in the semi-urgent category, 35 needed residential accommodation, four

needed accommodation with night attention and 11 were deemed to be in need of housing in an infirm wing. Mrs Lawrie said the survey showed the need for a special type of accommodation involving night attention. The surveying team found that sponsorship of a residential home should imply responsibility for the supervision of those awaiting admission, who should be visited at least every three months.

Personal relationships, home conditions and the financial stringency of those in private nursing homes were common grounds for recommending residential accommodation. It was also found that the benefits of a residential home were largely lost if admission was confined to the very frail. A central register of elderly people requiring either residential or infirm wing accommodation was recommended.