Objectives:

Spain has one of the highest rates of ageing in the world.The greater longevity of people is associated with a greater probability of needing some type of continuous and specific care to carry out the basic self-care of life on a daily basis, and with this, admission to a nursing home. The general objective is to find out the characteristics of residential care homes for the elderly in Spain.

Methodology:

An integrative review was carried out between May and June 2022 in the different databases: CINAHL, PubMed, WOS, Science Direct and Dialnet. The websites of the Instituto de Mayores y Servicios Sociales and the Organización Iberoamericana de Seguridad Social were also analysed.

Results:

Residential centers are social facilities that provide accommodation and specialized care, on a temporary or permanent basis, to those elderly people who, due to their economic, family and social situation, as well as their limited personal autonomy, cannot be cared for at home. In Spain, there are a total of 5,529 residential centres with 389,677 places in total.

Conclusions:

Nursing homes for the elderly have a network of services, comprising standard nursing and medical care, palliative care, family support and community and accommodation services, which ensure continuity of care.

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