Westhoff L J, Schaefer J C
Sisters of Mercy Health Corporation, West Des Moines, IA.
Health Prog. 1993 May;74(4):38-42.
The Catholic Health Association's 1992 survey of Catholic long-term care (LTC) facilities identified five broad issues LTC facilities face in the 1990s: leadership, system affiliation, community programs, resident issues, and care of persons with AIDS. The transition to lay leadership presents new challenges to the relationship between LTC facilities and their sponsors. Despite the dominance of religious sponsors, an increasing number of laypersons are serving as healthcare administrators both in long-term and acute care. Thirty percent of respondents reported being affiliated with a multi-institutional system. This percentage has changed little in the past few years, although the number of facilities that are system members continues to increase at the fastest rate of any type of LTC facility. Only 27 percent of survey respondents said they provide educational or informational programs for persons in their communities. Thirty-nine percent of system-affiliated LTC facilities reported offering such programs. One encouraging finding shows that 80 percent of facilities have written policies for living wills, 64 percent for designated proxy, and 86 percent for durable power of attorney for healthcare. LTC providers are struggling to determine their role in caring for persons with HIV and AIDS. Only 3.6 percent of respondents care for residents with AIDS. A major problem LTC administrators face is a fear of potential infection of staff or residents.
天主教医疗协会1992年对天主教长期护理（LTC）机构的调查确定了LTC机构在20世纪90年代面临的五个广泛问题：领导力、系统附属关系、社区项目、居民问题以及艾滋病患者护理。向非神职人员领导的转变给LTC机构与其赞助者之间的关系带来了新挑战。尽管宗教赞助者占主导地位，但越来越多的非神职人员在长期护理和急症护理机构担任医疗保健管理人员。30%的受访者表示隶属于多机构系统。尽管作为系统成员的机构数量继续以任何类型的LTC机构中最快的速度增长，但在过去几年中这一比例变化不大。只有27%的调查受访者表示他们为所在社区的居民提供教育或信息项目。39%隶属于系统的LTC机构报告称提供此类项目。一个令人鼓舞的发现是，80%的机构制定了关于生前遗嘱的书面政策，64%制定了关于指定代理人的政策，86%制定了医疗保健持久授权书的政策。LTC服务提供者正在努力确定他们在照顾艾滋病毒和艾滋病患者方面的角色。只有3.6%的受访者照顾艾滋病患者。LTC管理人员面临的一个主要问题是担心工作人员或居民受到潜在感染。
