Health care needs in four elderly housing projects in the Dixwell-Newhallville area of New Haven, Connecticut.

This survey was designed to ascertain the health care needs of the occupants in four elderly housing projects in the Dixwell-Newhallville Area of New Haven, Connecticut. A systematic sample was taken utilizing a health questionnaire to obtain the basic data. The essay attempts to answer a single area of concern applied to residents of one type of facility for the aged in a single city. What are the health care needs of residents in elderly housing projects? Ninety-three percent (78) of the elderly interviewed had some problems in getting good health care. The main problems were money 56% (47), transportation 27% (23), finding a physician 10% (8) and the remaining 7% (6) stated that they had no such problems. The personal interviews of the sample of the elderly residents in the Dixwell-Newhallville Area of New Haven, Connecticut showed that the population is fragile, lonely, has many physical disabilities or limitations, and demonstrates a vast lack of knowledge about health services important to their continued well being. In order to prevent gaps in services, programs for the elderly and long-term ill must plan and coordinate all efforts directed to the prevention or cure of those diseases amenable to such an approach and the continuity of care required by those patients who cannot respond in such a way