The changing profile of nursing home residents: 1985-1997.

• Demand for nursing home and other health-care services for the eldely will increase significantly as the baby-boomers age, presenting formidable challenges. Overview Nursing homes are an important component of health services for the elderly population. Specifically, nursing homes or skilled nursing facilities provide 24-hour nursing care to sick or disabled individuals who do not require expensive inpatient hospital services, but cannot be cared for at home through home health care or other community options. Patients who have been critically ill or have undergone surgery will often be admitted to a nursing home for a short stay until they are well enough to return to the community. Other short stay residents may be too ill to be cared for at home and will enter the nursing home for a short period before death. Some patients admitted to nursing homes are not acutely ill, but are too disabled to care for themselves. These patients may have had family or other informal caregivers who could no longer care for them as cognitive impairment, incontinence, or other disabilities worsened. These residents may remain in the nursing home for a longer stay, perhaps years.