Access for elderly people from home care to 24-hour care

The goal of the assessment

The main question of the assessment was whether older people who are clients of home care could access 24-hour care in accordance with their needs and in a timely manner. The assessment examined whether the new service needs assessment of a home care client is started on time if the client's situation changes. It was additionally assessed whether the analysis, assessment and placement process of 24-hour care is functional and whether clients are provided with a place in 24-hour care within the target time of three months from being placed in the queue.

Conclusions

Based on the assessment findings, older people who are clients of home care can usually access 24-hour care in accordance with their needs and in a timely manner. Access to 24-hour care depends first and foremost on the assessment carried out by the home care unit of whether the criteria for 24-hour care are met. However, the ability of home care staff to identify risks affecting a client’s coping at home varies. The analysis, assessment and placement process of 24-hour care is effective for the most part, but the application process with all of its stages may take a long time, and feedback on the functioning of the process is not collected from clients or their loved ones. In 2024, almost all clients who were provided with a place in 24-hour care were provided with a place within the target time of three months.