Follow-up three years after intervention to relieve unmet medical and social needs of old people.

A follow-up study was conducted 3 years after a socio-medical intervention had been performed as part of an epidemiological study of 75-, 80- and 85-year-old citizens of Copenhagen. The intervention was aimed at relieving unmet medical and social needs of this group of citizens. The main recipients of social services were the oldest, single persons and women. A preponderance of the oldest had unmet social needs, but the need for health intervention did not vary according to age or sex. Although a fifth of the participants displayed unmet health needs and a third unmet social needs, no difference could be demonstrated at follow-up between participants and controls with regard to mortality, hospitalization, and institutionalization. Nor could any difference be found regarding subjective health and economy, loneliness, quality of life and functional ability. This is in contrast to the findings of another recent Danish intervention study. On the basis of the present study and other Scandinavian intervention studies, the authors conclude that in countries with a well-developed social system, efforts to improve the living conditions of the elderly should be concentrated to those who are at particular risk. Also for ethical reasons individualized intervention is greatly preferable to general intervention. It is conceivable, however, that not all risk factors, perhaps not even the most important, can be eliminated by intervention.