Helen Rehr

The Search for Early Indicators of Social Service Need among Elderly Hospital Patients

ABSTRACT: A study was made of the possible usefulness of certain sociodemo‐graphic characteristics as early indicators of the need for referral of elderly hospital patients to Social Service. The study population covered the 5,312 elderly patients accommodated in the private, semiprivate and teaching wards of the hospitals medical and surgical services during the year 1967. Of these patients, 520 were referred to Social Service. The data on 6 items (age, sex, marital status, religion, color, and medical service location) routinely recorded on each admission sheet were collected to determine whether they would prove predictive of the need for referral to Social Service; if so, they would constitute an inexpensive automated screening device for this purpose. At present, most elderly patients who need the services of social workers are referred only late in the course of hospitalization. Incidental to the original plan of study was the collection of data on the length of hospital stay. The 6 “admission” variables were found to be of no value as early predictors, but the ancillary variable (length of stay) proved to be importantly related to the overall need for Social Service. However, since the data on this variable can be obtained only at the time of discharge, they cannot be used as a screening device for early identification of the need. Further studies may reveal a means of early prediction of the length of hospital stay.

Utilization of in-patient services by the elderly.

The authors present descriptive data on the 5,312 patients aged 65 or older, admitted in 1967 to the medical and surgical in‐patient services of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. These patients accounted for 24 per cent of the total number of adults admitted. The services admitting most of the elderly were General Medicine, General Surgery, Urology, Ophthalmology and Neurology. These patients had a longer average stay in the hospital than the national average for hospitalized elderly; almost 20 per cent of them stayed thirty‐one days or longer. Over four‐fifths of the elderly were admitted to Private and Semi‐Private Pavilion accommodations, and the remainder entered the teaching services of the Semi‐Private Division. The Division patients had longer lengths of stay, on the average, than patients in the Pavilions. The patients referred to Social Service were chiefly from the General Medical, Neurological, and Orthopedic services. The most significant factor determining who was referred to Social Service was extended “length of stay.” Over half of the elderly receiving social services were patients whose hospital stays were thirty‐one days or longer.

Women's Longevity Group: Myrna's Group

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