A profile of social cases on medical wards

Abstract

The study was carried out to develop a profile of the patient labelled as a 'social case' on medical wards in St. Luke's Hospital. A clearer understanding of the term 'social case' was deemed necessary as the term is widely used in St. Luke's Hospital. Moreover, 'social cases' appear to be a possible risk group for becoming unpopular patients. The study also aimed at identifying nurses' definitions of the term 'social case' and their feelings about having 'social cases' on their ward. The reviewed literature generally identified the term 'bedblocker' rather than 'social case', though it was found that some patients were admitted for social reasons, rather than medical ones. In fact, 'social admission' was actually written down as part of the information used for diagnostic purposes. The bedblocker was usually a female widow, over 7 5 years of age and she would be admitted to hospital from home. The most common medical diagnosis was found to be cerebrovascular disease. The research method used was content analysis of the patients' medical records. From the study it was identified that the majority of 'social cases' were females. They were also more likely to be widows (80%), in the 76-78 age category (30o/o) and generally they were admitted from home (90% ). Contrary to what was expected, 'social cases' were regularly visited by their relatives (90%). However the majority were referred to St. Vincent de Paule residence (60%). An important recommendation, based on research findings is to set up a bed management group within the hospital, focusing on monitoring of discharges. Other recommendations include discharge planning, improved multidisciplinary teamwork and more community support facilities.