Geriatric services, multidisciplinary approach : recommendations for Baaigm Hospital

Abstract

One of the most important twentieth century phenomenon was population ageing. Population ageing resulted through demographic transitions. This also means increased number of population over the age of 60 years and above. The popuiation ageing started first in developed countries in the middle of last century and now going to be experienced by the developing countries. Developing countries with the declining fertility rate, mortality rate, and the effects of migration are going to face increased number of elderly population, which is going to be prominent in this century. Elderly people suffer physical, medical, psychosocial, mental, and environmental problem entering in old age. They also suffer multiple pathology, chronic diseases, and decline functional reserve. With increasing life expectancy we see an emergence of a 'fourth generation' population in the elderly population known as 'old-old' or 'frail' elderly. Although there are an increased number of diseases prevalent in old ages, elderly people should not consider as a homogenous group. With an increasing number of 'frail' elderly there would be an increased demand for elderly care services to face their complex problem. 'Specialized geriatric services with multidisciplinary team approach' are designed specially to meet the challenges of the health care problems of elderly people. 'Multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary team' geriatric services are also dedicated to deal elderly peoples problem with a holistic approach with their multiple domain of their physical, medical, psychosocial, and environmental issues. 'Multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary team' management in the Geriatric services has the unique opportunity to deal with elderly peoples multiple pathology, chronic diseases, and functional decline. The function of the 'multidisciplinary team' is to examine, assess, and record of the multiple problems of the elderly people. The core members of such 'multidisciplinary team' are doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, and the social worker. The extended members of the team may be clinical psychologist, speech language therapist, dietician, ethics, and a clinical pharmacist depending on the need of the elderly patient. Different member of the team will assess the elderly patient at different times: the initial medical assessment is usually followed by the nurse's care plan, which is subsequently followed by the therapist's assessment. The later may in turn influence both the medical, and nursing assessments and plan. It is therefore vital for team members to coordinate and communicate with each other, which is the key to the success of the 'multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary team's Geriatric services. [...]