Characterization of long-term care facilities for the elderly in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte

Objective: to characterize Long Term Care Facilities for the Elderly (LTCFs) from the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil in terms of administrative and care aspects. Method: an exploratory, quantitative study was conducted in the MRBH, with primary and secondary sources used to map the LTCFs. A structured questionnaire was used for characterization, and data was collected between November 2014 and December 2015 through telephone contact and site visits to the LTCFs. A descriptive statistical analysis of the data was subsequently performed. Results: the 156 participating institutions included private and mixed institutions, with predominantly female residents with dependency levels I and II, and elevated levels of occupation. Philanthropic LTCFs directly receive the retirement pensions of the elderly persons, although most also receive a government grant. The results in terms of activities offered were similar for the philanthropic and private facilities, while the staff of the private facilities had more health professionals and the philanthropic facilities had more social workers and psychologists. Conclusions: there was significant participation among the LTCFs, despite the limiting factors of the study such as the data collection instrument and strategy. It is important to prioritize the elderly when creating policies to improve care for institutionalized individuals, as well as facilitating interlocution between LTCFs to minimize the abandonment of state participation.