Provision of mental health services in U.S. nursing homes, 1995-2004

Abstract

Objective: This study tracked the ability of U.S. nursing homes to provide on-site mental health services after the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1987 mandated the detection and treatment of mental illness among nursing home patients. The study also determined cross-sectional correlates of service availability and models of services.

Methods: Retrospective analyses were done using National Nursing Home Surveys from 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2004 (the most recent survey). The surveys are periodically conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and represent the nation's approximately 17,000 nursing homes. The longitudinal trend of mental health service provision was analyzed for all facilities and for subgroups of facilities. Multivariate regression determined facility and geographic correlates in 2004.

Results: Roughly 80% of facilities provided on-site mental health services each survey year. In 2004, 25% of facilities provided mental health services regularly or at routinely scheduled times (regular basis), 24% provided them in an on-call manner (or as needed), and 28% provided them on both a regular and on-call basis. The remaining 22% of facilities provided no on-site mental health services. Multivariate analyses found that largest facilities (> or = 200 beds) were more able than small facilities (< 100 beds) to serve persons with mental illness (odds ratio=3.80, p=.024); compared with their counterparts, facilities were more likely to provide on-site services if they had a larger proportion of residents covered by Medicare or Medicaid programs, were in the Northeast region, or were in metropolitan areas. Similar correlates were found when the types of service provision models (regular basis, on-call basis, both a regular and on-call basis) were examined.

Conclusions: The overall availability of nursing home-based mental health services did not improve over time during the post-OBRA era. Service availability is more problematic for certain facilities, such as small or rural ones. Financial, regulatory, and system-level efforts are needed to address this issue.

Figure 1

Percentage of U.S. nursing homes (NHs) providing on-site mental health services, 1995-2004: by (a) profit status, (b) chain affiliation, (c) bed size, and (d) location in a metropolitan statistical area (MSA).