Abdul-Hamid W
Maudsley Hospital, London, UK.
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 1997 Jul;12(7):724-7. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199707)12:7<724::aid-gps623>3.0.co;2-r.
The objectives of this study are: (1) to assess the feasibility and usefulness of using the Needs Schedule on older homeless individuals; (2) to measure the needs of the elderly homeless individual for mental health services and whether these needs could be met by the same services that cater for younger individuals.
This article analyses the needs of a subsample of 37 elderly residents in four inner London hostels for homeless people. Their needs were compared with those of 64 younger residents within the same hostels.
The data related to demographic characteristics and health problems showed that the elderly homeless were physically frail and socially isolated. This group demonstrated more need for physical health services than the younger sample. However, the needs assessment method used in this study failed to show significant differences between the needs of these elderly and those of the younger residents.
The article discusses ways of improving the assessment of needs for services in the elderly homeless and the way forward in meeting the needs of this disadvantaged group.
本研究的目的如下：（1）评估使用《老年无家可归者需求量表》的可行性和实用性；（2）衡量老年无家可归者对心理健康服务的需求，以及这些需求是否能由为年轻人提供服务的相同机构满足。
本文分析了伦敦市中心四家无家可归者收容所中37名老年居民的子样本的需求。将他们的需求与同一收容所内64名年轻居民的需求进行了比较。
与人口统计学特征和健康问题相关的数据表明，老年无家可归者身体虚弱且社会孤立。与年轻样本相比，这一群体对身体健康服务的需求更大。然而，本研究中使用的需求评估方法未能显示出这些老年人与年轻居民在需求上的显著差异。
本文讨论了改进老年无家可归者服务需求评估的方法以及满足这一弱势群体需求的未来方向。
