Meiring P D
S Afr Med J. 1985 Jan 19;67(3):85-7.
A major deficiency during the initial stages of development of a geriatric unit was a lack of easily available information concerning facilities and services already existing in the community. A postal survey undertaken in conjunction with the Cape Peninsula Organization for the Aged resulted in the production of an information manual of services available to the elderly in the Cape Peninsula. In the introduction to this manual an invitation was extended to readers to direct requests for information to the Geriatric Unit at the Medical School of the University of Cape Town. This paper reports on the first 50 enquiries received, as a result of which 73 items of advice or information were given. Unmet community needs were revealed in 9 instances. Useful assistance was known to have resulted on 30 occasions, consisting, in the main, of arrangements initiated for appropriate residential placement, for geriatric and psychogeriatric assessments and for domiciliary assessments by community nursing sisters or social workers, sometimes assisted by an occupational therapist or physiotherapist. Those who care for the aged at home need to be put in touch with correct sources of relevant information, and this appears to have constituted an additional and useful function of our information service.
老年科在发展初期的一个主要缺陷是缺乏关于社区现有设施和服务的便捷信息。与开普半岛老年人组织联合开展的一项邮政调查，促成了一本开普半岛老年人可用服务信息手册的编制。在该手册的引言中，向读者发出邀请，引导他们向开普敦大学医学院老年科咨询信息。本文报告了收到的前50份咨询，据此提供了73条建议或信息。9个案例中揭示了未得到满足的社区需求。已知有30次提供了有用的帮助，主要包括为合适的住所安置、老年病和老年精神病评估以及由社区护理姐妹或社会工作者进行的家庭评估做出安排，有时职业治疗师或物理治疗师也会提供协助。那些在家照顾老年人的人需要与相关信息的正确来源取得联系，而这似乎构成了我们信息服务的一项额外且有用的功能。
