Download Health Care Providers Working with the Elderly

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:

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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
Gerontological
Nursing Practice:
Occupational Therapy:

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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.

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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 wellbeing 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.