Older persons' perceptions of home and hospital as sites of treatment for acute illness.

Purpose: Home care is increasingly being used as a substitute for hospital care. This study examined older patients' perceptions of the home and of the hospital as treatment sites for acute illness and the patient characteristics that are associated with these perceptions.

Subjects And Methods: A series of questions derived from open-ended interviews supplemented by literature review were administered by telephone in a cross-sectional, descriptive study to community-dwelling persons age 65 years or older who had been hospitalized 2 months earlier with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or pneumonia.

Results: Among 246 participants, nearly equal proportions agreed with statements that the home and the hospital would be comfortable sites of care (54% versus 55%), that the home and the hospital would provide rapid recovery (41% versus 37%), and that home treatment and hospital treatment would be burdensome on family and friends (40% versus 33%). Although 93% would feel safe in the hospital, only 42% would feel safe at home. Perceptions were not associated with sociodemographic characteristics, primary diagnosis, self-rated health, depression, or social support. Functionally dependent patients had more positive perceptions of treatment at home.

Conclusions: Evaluation of perceptions of home and hospital can facilitate assessing the acceptability of shifting acute care from hospital to home. Our findings suggest that successful expansion of acute home care will require flexibility in the use of home and hospital as well as education to change perceptions about the safety and efficacy of treatment at home.