Nursing home residents are most likely to be widowed women, aged
80 years or more who, after living alone prior to admission, rely
on a higher level of care than ever before, according to a report
released today by the Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare.
Nursing Homes in Australia 1995-96, shows that 72,682
Australians were living in nursing homes at 30 June 1996. Of these,
more than 70% were women and almost 60 per cent of them were
widowed, compared with 25 per cent of men. More than half of female
residents are 85 years or older.
Acting Head of the AIHW's Aged Care Unit Dr Anne Jenkins, said
that the report shows an increased level of dependency among
residents in 1996 than in previous years.
"Around 50 per cent of residents needed more than 23 hours of
care each week, and another 37 per cent needed 19 to 24 hours of
care," Dr Jenkins said.
There were 44,244 admissions to nursing homes in 1995-96, 25 per
cent of which were admissions for short-term respite care.
"Approximately half of these residents were in hospitals when they
applied for admission to nursing homes. This proportion was
slightly higher for men compared with women," Dr Jenkins said.
Other findings of Nursing Homes in Australia 1995-96
include:
- At 30 June 1996, there were 1,472 nursing homes in Australia
providing a total of 75,004 beds: an average of 51 beds per nursing
home. This represented 50 beds per 1000 people aged 70 and
over.
- Almost half (48%) the beds in nursing homes in 1996 were
managed by private-for profit organisations.
- In 1995-96, there were 32,961 separations from permanent care,
85% were due to death. Just under half of nursing home residents
who died in 1995-96 had been in the nursing home for less than a
year; 31 per cent died after a stay of less than six months, and
16% after a stay of five years or more.
The report is the first in the AIHW's new Aged Care Statistics
Series which is jointly published by the AIHW and the Commonwealth
Department of Health and Family Services.
12 November 1997
Further information: Anne Jenkins, ph. 02 6244
1173, or Zhibin Liu, ph. 02 6244 1174.
For media copies of the paper: Michelle Wells,
ph. 02 6244 1032.
General media enquiries: Lyn Elliott, ph. 02 6244
1034.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications Catalogue
for details.