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In 1997, the Dutch government installed independent agencies to assess the long-term care needs of individual clients and to give advice on the allocation of appropriate services. Needs assessors assess, among other things, the eligibility of clients requesting admission to a residential home. According to guidelines, needs assessors should do this objectively and independently from care providers and health care insurers. The present paper examines how needs assessors explore the clients' expressed needs, determine their normative needs and advise on allocation. Needs assessors perform these tasks in a situation where a clear professional framework is absent, and moreover, residential home capacity is limited. A qualitative study was undertaken, observing 13 house calls of clients requesting admission to a residential home. Furthermore, interviews were held with all needs assessors and a document analysis was made. It was found that needs assessors use comparable methods in exploring the clients' motivation and assessing their needs in the relevant areas, apparently using a professional framework. However, when transforming the needs of clients into an adequate allocation, needs assessors struggled with interpretation of criteria and included their personal ideas of services into the allocation decision. The paper concludes with the suggestion that further professionalisation may lead to a greater uniformity in needs assessment practice, and will assist needs assessors in the difficult task of transforming clients' needs into long-term care allocation advice.

Bericht uber die Auswertung einiger Schadensfalle aus der Praxis. In einem Falle handelte es sich um Aluminiumverkleidungen aus Innenraumen, wo durch die Klimaanlage salzhaltige Luft mit hohem Feuchtigkeitgehalt zugefuhrt wurde; die dabei auftretende Kondensation fuhrte zur Bildung von Aluminiumchloridbelagen. Eine Abhilfe ware durch beidseitges Lackieren der Verkleidungen moglich gewesen. In einem anderen Falle waren in Fluorchlorkohlenwasserstoffe eingebettete Al-Drahte mit Cu- und Au-Uberzug angegriffen. Ursache war hier ein geringer Feuchtigkeitsgehalt der Halogenwasserstoffen , wodurch es zur Abspaltung von Halogenwasserstoffen gekommen war. Die Zerstorung von Fassadenverkleidungen aus emailliertem Aluminium war durch Emailschaden bedingt, durch welche die Industrieluft das Aluminium angreifen konnte. Die Schaden waren an der weniger belufteten Seite der Verkleidung starker ausgepragt als an der Ausenseite. Microscopic analysis of corrosion phenomena on some structural elements consisting predominantly of aluminium Reports concerning the evaluation of some case histories. In one case structural aluminum elements from the ceiling of a room were corroded by the salt containing humid air fed by the air conditioning system. The condensation connected with this conditioning resulted in the formation of aluminum chloride. A prevention of this corrosion would have been possible by coating either side of the aluminum elements. In another case aluminum wire with Cu and Au coating had been attacked in fluorochlorinated hydrocarbon. This attack was caused by a very low moisture contents of these hydrocarbon which gave rise to the separation of hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids. The destruction of aluminum fassades (enamel coated) was due to discontinuities in the coating so that the polluted air could attack the base metal. The destructions were more pronounced at the inner surface (less aerated) that at the surface exposed to the open atmosphere.