Abstract
The aims of this study were to assess the impairment levels of users and waitlisted applicants for Hong Kong's Integrated Home Care Services (Ordinary Cases) (IHCS [OC]), reveal their possible hidden needs and potential demand for higher level services, assess their unmet needs for IHCS (OC) and explore whether not using IHCS (OC) was associated with any deterioration in impairment. In all, 567 respondents were clinically assessed twice, over a 6-month interval, by the Minimal Data Set Home Care questionnaire. The results showed that some moderately or severely impaired respondents had only limited access to higher level services. Some respondents with either no impairment or only low-level impairment had applied for higher level services. Most waitlisted applicants had not received any IHCS (OC), even after 6 months of waiting. Using IHCS (OC) or not had no significant impact on the deterioration in impairment. Several ways of improving home and community care services are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 52-61 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | International Journal of Social Welfare |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 6 Apr 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2018 |
User-Defined Keywords
- home and community care
- hidden needs
- potential demand
- unmet needs
- MDS-HC
- Hong Kong