Residents’ health highlighted in study

Less than two-thirds of people in care homes
are visited by relatives or friends every week compared with 81 per
cent in private households, according to new statistics on older
people’s health in England.

The Health Survey for England 2000
shows that 4 per cent of people aged 65 and over are resident in
care homes, with women more likely to go into a home than men.

Three in 10 residents were in a care home for
less than a year compared with a fifth who were there for five
years or more.

The survey also found that residents in care
homes were less likely to eat fruit and red meat than people in
private households and were more than twice as likely to suffer
anaemia than people in private homes.

The report also says that three out of four
care home residents are severely disabled, with senile dementia the
most commonly reported cause.

– The Health Survey for England 2000
interviewed more than 4,000 older people living in care homes and
private households. It is at www.doh.gov.uk/public/summary1.htm