[Contributions to the quality of care in homes for the aged from a psychogeriatric nursing home].

The knowledge and experiences of the staff of a psychogeriatric nursing home can be used to improve the care for residents with psychogeriatric problems of a home for the aged. Staff members of the nursing home Nieuw Toutenburg in Noordbergum taught psychogeriatrics in eleven homes for the aged. Subsequently a psychologist and a nurse provided additional support during eight months.

[Substitution effects in the care for the elderly in Southeast Groningen].

Results are presented of a 'demonstration project' in care for the elderly in the region South-East Groningen. Three issues were at stake in this project: extension of home-care, interventions in the referral processes to nursing homes and homes for the aged and coordinated allocation and planning of services for the elderly. Effects of the intervention were assessed with a quasi-experimental control-group design.

Rural-urban differences in the utilization of care by the elderly.

Nowadays the rural-urban dimension in sociological research is being replaced more and more by the direct measurement of relevant variables. In this paper the utilization of care by the elderly and, in particular, community mental health care for the elderly has been analysed by comparing a rural and urban area in the Netherlands with respect to the needs of the elderly and the availability of services. Based on a short review of the literature on rural-urban differences, two hypotheses on the relation between the needs of the elderly and care provision and utilization have been put forward.

[Observation of psychogeriatric clients and home care service].

In cooperation with the community mental health care for the elderly clients are assessed in a day hospital of a psychogeriatric nursing home. Time and again, former clients of the day-hospital who have been discharged with a fair prognosis are admitted to a nursing home. This research indicates that it is sometimes hard to carry out the advice of the day-hospital because of insufficient knowledge concerning psychogeriatrics in primary care and homes for the aged, lack of day-care centres for psychogeriatric clients, lack of informal care and the detrimental influence of general hospital admission.