The availability and use of allied health care in care homes in the Midlands, UK: commentaries.

The demographic trends of continuing growth of the number of older people will lead to an increasing need for long-term services such as nursing homes. The intensive work delivered by the rehabilitative services provided in the nursing homes includes care by a variety of allied health care personnel, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and dieticians. Allied health care plays an important role not only in the scope of improvement of health conditions, but also in the increase in self-coping strategies of residents. In this article, the authors address the important issue of older people living in care homes not receiving the appropriate levels of allied health care.(aut. ref.