Patient Issue
The patients’ falls may worsen their conditions before the doctors diagnose them and give the care that they need. The older people are weak and this may make them vulnerable to falls. Advanced age, fragility, and pre-existing medical issues limit the probability that older adults will recuperate from fall-related injuries. This issue calls for interdisciplinary approach to control injuries, breakages and torture among the older patients attending health centers for treatment.
The concern of the Audience
It is often the older persons fall after arriving in hospitals. Some may die due to a fall, and others get serious injuries that add to the conditions and diseases the patient has come for treatment. Falls might influence their mood and lead to social isolation, necessitating further care or a relocation to a nursing facility. They also have emotional effects. Older adults might develop a severe fear of falling, leading to sadness or even post-traumatic stress symptoms of mental illness. Hospitalization, for example, has several dangers. There is an increased risk that a senior will be sent to a rehabilitation center or long-term care institution even if they survive a fall and subsequent medical treatment. Hospital-acquired illnesses, such as pneumonia, are more likely to occur if this is the case. People believe falling is a natural part of aging. In reality, it is a normal component of aging, and therefore it calls for a collective approach to solve the issue of falling on arrival. It is within control, and there are steps one can take to lessen the risk of falling or at the very least, a significant fall. It is essential to employ an interdisciplinary approach to prevent these natural falls in healthcare facilities. The effects of falling can affect the patients and caretakers emotionally. Therefore psychological torture from falling can minimize by this plan.
Relevance of an Interdisciplinary Team Approach
In hospitals, geriatric patients may have several diagnoses, necessitating specialized care. To address complicated multimorbidity, social, and psychological concerns, a higher percentage of older persons than younger age groups need an interdisciplinary approach to their treatment. The most effective care for older persons is possible through a collaborative approach to treatment that proactively incorporates the patients, their families, and an interdisciplinary team. Participating in all parts of a patient’s treatment enables them to express their opinions and experience in decision-making. Integrating interdisciplinary care into the delivery of holistic, comprehensive, and person-centered services through establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs). The democratic leadership ensures the team members’ full and equal participation to give positive outcomes. Equal participation means shared skills from professionals and nurses to achieve the intended goal. The strategy also allows the opinions of all the participants, thus enhancing professional collaboration. When it comes to designing and maintaining programs, interdisciplinary care is vital. The interdisciplinary approach describes the lessons learned from the Acute Care for Aging People and exposes the primary vulnerabilities of older people (Thiyagarajan et al., 2019).
Interdisciplinary Plan Summary
Some hurdles and impediments may lead to problems with divided, inefficient, and wasteful services for the fragile elderly, yet family doctors provide most of the treatment for them (Montero‐Odasso & Speechley, 2018). The severity of a fall is frequently determined by the circumstances surrounding the mishap. For instance, if an older adult falls and lands awkwardly, they could suffer a broken hip or a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The most prevalent fall-related injuries are broken bones and soft tissue damage like scars, sprains, and stressors). A senior’s mobility and self-confidence often never return to where they were before falling, even with minor injuries that necessitate a hospital stay. The interdisciplinary approach can solve the problem with a well guided collaborative team.
Implementation and Resource Management
Decide on a team leader who can set the team on the right path while also listening to and encouraging its members. A transparent leader keeps accurate records for the project to avoid misappropriation of funds intended for the projects. Create a trustworthy environment where everybody’s contributions are welcomed and appreciated and where agreement is fostered. This environment ensures that there is good cooperation among the team members. Examine present procedures, including evaluation and referral techniques, information sharing, and recordkeeping, to ensure they support an interprofessional approach. Concentrate on the patient and be sensitive to their needs and wishes. Promote and utilize input from patients, families, caregivers, and care providers to enhance the quality of care. Utilize tactics that facilitate communication inside and across teams to foster cooperative decision-making and efficient team operations (Thiyagarajan et al., 2019). The management of the resources must be central; that is, one individual must be accountable for managing the resources to avoid wastage (Montero‐Odasso & Speechley, 2018). In every planning stage, records are kept to justify the expenditure of the resources in every part. The records give the actual spending for the entire project.
How the Team Works
The collaborative team entails people from different departments. It needs the management, doctors, nurses, technicians, and other health workers. The technician can put in place the sensors that monitor the movements of the aging patients and provide the intended signals. The nurses can, in turn, monitor the signals to get information about arriving patients, particularly in the emergency zones. The doctors can give prevention measures to avoid patients falling in the hospitals. The management can provide resources like funds, sensors, and other supportive gadgets to manage the situation. The interdisciplinary team needs open communication to achieve its objectives. Professional communication will imply that there is precise and correct information for every team participant. Inaccurate information leads to wrong data analysis and diagnosis results. Professional communication allows professionalism and respect among the participants to achieve the intended objectives (Schoene et al., 2019).
Evaluation
When the team members are satisfied, it implies that the plan was successful and there was no mismanagement of human and financial resources. It means that there are no complaints from the relatives and caregivers of the older adults. In case of continued falls, the management must be informed about the negligence of the healthcare workers. The team members also must not complain about the lack of funds and other project resources.
References
Montero‐Odasso, M., & Speechley, M. (2018). Falls in cognitively impaired older adults: implications for risk assessment and prevention. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 66(2), 367-375.
Schoene, D., Heller, C., Aung, Y. N., Sieber, C. C., Kemmler, W., & Freiberger, E. (2019). A systematic review on the influence of fear of falling on quality of life in older people: is there a role for falls? Clinical interventions in aging, 14, 701.
Thiyagarajan, J. A., Araujo de Carvalho, I., Peña-Rosas, J. P., Chadha, S., Mariotti, S. P., Dua, T. & Beard, J. R. (2019). Redesigning care for older people to preserve physical and mental capacity: WHO guidelines on community-level interventions in integrated care. PLoS medicine, 16(10), e1002948.