Special care units in nursing homes: prevalence in five states.

As part of a five-state study of the impact of special care units for demented residents, the authors surveyed (with telephone follow-up) nursing homes to identify those facilities that maintained some form of special care unit. The estimated prevalence was 11%; this finding suggests that special care units are far more numerous than had previously been reported. This difference is due in part to definitional considerations: many facilities maintain "cluster units" that do not differ appreciably from segregated units. However, more often than not, facilities did not regard these units as special care units.