Due to the presence of multiple health issues in most aging patients, the introduction of multidisciplinary teams into addressing the health concerns experienced by the specified demographic is an absolute necessity. However, the described solution to the health problems of aging patients may entail difficulties in coordinating the work of the health experts involved in a team (Hash, Jurkowski, & Krout, 2015). Therefore, the creation of an interdisciplinary team that will utilize a patient-centered approach and be involved in the nurse-patient dialogue, thus boosting patient education, is needed.
The use of an interdisciplinary approach is critical in handling health issues faced by the aging population. Unlike the multidisciplinary framework, it allows for a patient-centered treatment process, which leads to higher levels of patient engagement and education, yet it also reduces the number of expenses that the transdisciplinary framework implies (Hash et al., 2015). Thus, when approaching the current management of the aging population’s needs from a realistic perspective, one will have to opt for the interdisciplinary strategy as the best model for care coordination in the rural context given infrastructure- and resource-related constraints (“Rural care coordination toolkit,” n.d.). Collaboration can be encouraged by introducing innovative conflict management techniques and revisiting the present hospital hierarchy to increase the role of nurses’ opinions.
Moreover, the selected approach toward cooperation across different healthcare disciplines will prompt knowledge sharing between and education of healthcare experts themselves. The described method of collaboration will prompt the reciprocal dialogue that will lead to discussing diagnoses and treatment solutions, inviting healthcare professionals to expand the range of their competencies. Ideally, the specified scenario may also lead to launching geriatric education programs for healthcare experts and patients (“Aging in rural places – Part 12, interdisciplinary teams and geriatric education centers,” 2014). Consequently, the quality and efficacy of care for aging people will rise.
References
Aging in rural places – Part 12, interdisciplinary teams and geriatric education centers. (2014). Web.
Hash, K. M., Jurkowski, E. T., & Krout, J. A. (2015). Aging in rural places. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.
Rural care coordination toolkit. (n.d.). Web.