Health Care Providers Working with the Elderly

Chapter 10

Health Care Teams:

The team consists of at least the health care provider and the patient or client whose life is directly affected by the care given. Family members & friends are team players as well.

Three types of teams:

Multidisciplinary: each member has his or her own role.

Interdisciplinary: patient goals are shared by members of the team; each provider works with the patient to promote the overriding goals of health care.

Transdisciplinary: members also share their expertise& their individual disciplinary roles are not always clear-cut.Carryover is common.

Case Manager:

To ensure effective coordination of services.

Seen as a tool to promote cost-effective outcomes.

Involves trouble shooting & problem solving, patient advocacy & effectively determining realistic outcomes of service provision.

Dietician

Whenever proper nutrition could help improve someone’s quality of life, they reach out to the public to teach, monitor, & advise.

Emergency Medical Services

Since geriatric abuse is on the rise, the EMS person may be the first person who is able to see the signs of abuse.

Gerontological Nursing:

Although nurses have always cared for the elderly, gerontological nursing practice has only recently developed into a respected specialty.

Basic GerontologicalNursing Practice:

Occupational Therapy:

Many elderly think that they do not need OT.

Includes bathing, dressing, grooming, & sexual expression.

The patient’s goals must be considered & respected as part of the rehab.process.

Physical Therapy:

P.T. includes examining pts. with impairments, functional limitations, & disability or other health-related conditions in order to determine a diagnosis, prognosis, & intervention.

Radiography & Nuclear Medicine:

Good pt.care skills. Imaging tables are

hard, some procedures require them to remain lying on the table for long times.

Respiratory Care:

An estimated 45% of those older than the age of 70 exhibit dyspnea on exertion, while 65% of men & 48% of women have a cardiopulmonary disorder.

Social Work:

The professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning & creating societal conditions favorable to this goal.

Social Workers: Hospital or medical: To work with the elderly pt.in determining a

plan following discharge from the hospital Involves doing a thorough assessment of

the needs of the pt. Speaking with family members & locating resources in the community. Collaborates with others involved with care & at times acts as an advocate in ensuring that the pt’s wishes are followed.

Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP): Provides evaluation &

intervention to persons with speech, language, voice, fluency, cognition, hearing, & swallowing (dysphagia) deficits.

Areas addressed by the SLP.

Speech Voice Fluency Cognition Language Hearing Dysphagia

Therapeutic Recreation:

The skilled nursing facility must provide.. An ongoing program, directed by a qualified professional, of activities designed to meet the interests & the physical, mental & psychosocial well-being of each resident.

Pew Health Professions Commission Report: Suggests the

necessity for better educational preparation.

Lack of may only foster negative attitudes & stereotypes toward the aging population.

American Society of Allied Health Professions (ASAHP)

An increasing % of clinical contact for allied health students will be with older patients. In recognition of this:

All allied health educational programs must provide comprehensive yet well-defined geriatric curricula & ample opportunity for high quality geriatric clinical experience.