LONG-TERM CARE INSTITUTIONS IN THAILAND

The number of care-dependent older persons residing in Thailand is expected to increase in the coming decades. It is unknown if there are sufficient and appropriate long-term care institution to meet increasing demand for continuing care. A descriptive study aimed to investigate the characteristics of long-term care institutions, care staff and residents. The preliminary study found that nearly half of the long-term care facilities were nursing homes and situated in Bangkok. Of 21 participated facilities, there were 21 facilities' administrators, 200 care staff and 486 residents. It was revealed that shortage of staff was visible and relatively had negative attitude toward residents. The most common conditions of residents in all long term care facilities were hypertension, osteoarthritis and joint pain. More than half of the residents (52.3 %) were moderately to totally dependence on care and needed to be cared for 20-27 hours per week. There are overlapping levels to dependency in different facilities, no level of care classification, no care standards available, and registration and inspection bodies were not specified. The recommendations are to develop a standard resident's assessment tools and initiate national care standard, to improve staff education and competence, and to initiate a long-term care facilities regulation system in order to improve quality of care and quality of life of residents.