Prevalence and demographic characteristics of high-need community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan

By early screening, the high-need older adults who require multiple care needs and resources can be identified and the necessary assistance can then be provided. However, a precise definition of and related research on high-need older adults are limited. Identifying older adults with high needs is of practical urgency. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of high-need community-dwelling older adults and to identify the characteristic differences between high-need older adults and those without high needs. This cross-sectional descriptive survey research was conducted between July and December 2018 and used a simple random sampling to select older adults aged 65 and older who had lived in the community for at least 3 months. The High-need Community-dwelling Older Adults Screening Scale was used to identify high-need older adults in the community. A total of 818 community-dwelling older adults were surveyed and the prevalence of high-need older adults was 24.1%. Those screened as high-need older adults (n = 197) were 78.58 (SD = 7.60) years old in average, mostly female, widowed or single but living with someone, had chronic illnesses (M = 2.11,SD = 1.41), an elementary school level of education and religious beliefs. Furthermore, differences were found between older adults with high needs (n = 197) and those without high needs (n = 621) where there is a significantly higher proportion of high-need older adults who were 85 years and older, being male, widowed or single, illiterate, living alone, had chronic illnesses and no religious belief. The high prevalence of high-need community-dwelling older adults highlighted the importance of screening. If community care centres are provided with a comprehensive screening tool for finding high-need older adults during home visits, this would lead to timely identification of older adults with potential needs and enhance the preventive nature of home visits.