The purpose of this study was to describe the population of a Medicare/Medicaid home health agency in Galveston, identify their specific needs and assess their satisfaction with the services provided to them. The data obtained will be used to improve home health services in the Galveston agency. OBJECTIVE 1. What nursing care services are required by home health patients? 2. What needs for other services (e.g. therapy service, homemaker/personal care services, social work services) do home health patients have? 3. What other resources do home health patients currently have to meet their needs? 4. What services do nurses provide during a home health visit? 5. How satisfied are home health patients with services received through the agency? METHODS Two types of data were collected for this study. Data relating to patient characteristics, need for services and services provided were obtain by a review of home health records. Data relating to patient satisfaction were obtained by mailing a questionnaire to patients after discharge. Patients still receiving services at the end of the data collection period were sent questionnaires at that time. A convenience sample of all patients receiving care through the agency between January and October of 1991 was used. This was a total of 121 patients. All patients receiving care at this agency meet the Medicare/Medicaid eligibility requirement, i.e. they must be homebound and need skilled nursing services, physical therapy or speech therapy on an intermittent basis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. CONCLUSIONS This predominantly elderly and low-income sample of patients was drawn from an agency serving Medicaid clients, as opposed to an agency serving the home care needs of clients covered by insurance or clients who are self-pay patients. Although chronically ill (often with more than one chronic health problem), these clients seemed to be generally able to care for themselves with only short-term home health assistance. Their most common complaints were sensory loss, decreased mobility and nutritional problem.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)