Aim: As home health care centers develop in our country, expectations of patients and their relatives increase. This study was planned to show the most frequent reasons for application and the service given by a home health care center.
Material and Methods: This is a descriptive study done screening the files. All patients visited by home health care center between January 01 and December 31, 2012 were recruited to the study. Repeated visits were excluded. All requests were included in the assessment even though there was more than one request.
Results: During the study period, a total of 554 patients of 218 male (39,4%) and 336 female (60,6%) were visited. Mean age of patients was 72,7±16,4 years. The most 3 frequent reasons for application were medication use report (n=252; 45,5%), diaper report (n=197; 35,6%) and general examination (n=158; 28,5%) respectively. There was hypertension (HT) in 34,8%, stroke in 31,0%, Alzheimer in 19,3%, diabetes mellitus in 18,8% and heart diseases in 10,8% of patients. Consultations from other clinics weren’t asked in 49,0% of patients. Consultations were asked mostly from specialists of neurology, social services and physical therapy and rehabilitation.
Conclusions: According to our results, the most frequent requests from a tertiary home health care center were medication use report and diaper report that require specialists. As monthly visits for INR-blood tests and urine catheters make up a substantial number and evaluation do not need specialty, follow up by primary care would help to reduce the workload of tertiary hospitals.
Key Words: Home Health Care; Application; Diagnosis; Consultation.
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