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[Care of the frail elderly in population studies].

UNLABELLED
The paper is one of the publications presenting the Polish part of the study on the EASY-Care questionnaire. The study was carried out as the multi-centre project "Supporting Clinical Outcomes in Primary Care of the Elderly". The EASY-Care Questionnaire is an instrument to assess the health care needs and social situation of older people for use in primary care.


OBJECTIVES
To identify the main providers of help to the frail community-dwelling elderly people aged 75 years and over.


DESIGN
Cross-sectional questionnaire study, survey.


SETTING
Community-dwelling elderly people living in the administrative borders one of the community health care centres in Białystok-city.


PARTICIPANTS
117 randomly selected people aged 75 years and over; the interviewers were doctors and nurses, serving the studied area.


MEASUREMENTS
Elderly Assessment System EASY-Care, version 1997,98.


RESULTS
81 persons of the studied group (69.2%) were ADL-dependent. Most of the elderly people in need of care were women, more often with the suspicion of depression and with cognitive impairment. Most of the caregivers (80%) of the frail community-dwelling elderly people 75 and over were family members living together (42%), living apart (21%) or it was wife/husband (17%). Almost 10% of the ADL-dependent elderly had no carer at all. The category of carers fulfilling all of the needs of the care recipient were more often the spouse. The role of the public care providers was marginal.


CONCLUSIONS
The family is still the basic source of support and the central element in the care system for the elderly in Poland. The family is insufficiently supported by formal and informal carers.