FORMAL NETWORKS TO GET HELP: DAY HOSPITALS
These are run by the health authority and are either for the elderly physically frail or the elderly mentally frail, i.e. geriatric or psychogeriatric. Geriatric day hospitals incorporate the multi-disciplinary team - that means that many specialties work together including doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers, as well as access to dieticians, speech therapists, pharmacists, chiropodists and dentists (amongst others). The day hospital is there for investigation and treatment and should be used to save people unnecessary admission to hospital as well as acting as a place where more time can be spent supervising someone who may need special help (e.g. shortly after discharge from hospital).
The person usually attends once or twice a week (depending on the problem) for about a month or two. It is not a place where people attend over a long period but they still manage to get attached to it and the staff. Transport usually gets them there in the morning and the routine is usually tea followed by any examinations and assessments that have to be done. Lunch is followed by a short rest period and then either group work or specialist treatments, with the usually long ride home after tea again. All manner of conditions are investigated and treated and GPs should know their local day hospital well and what type of cases they can refer there.
There are usually separate day hospitals for the elderly mentally infirm. Some districts separate the day hospitals again, depending on whether the elderly person is suffering from dementia or another mental condition such as depression. Day hospitals catering for the elderly mentally infirm not only confirm the diagnosis but can try and help with any particular problems the sufferer has or the carer has noticed. This may mean helping with disordered behaviour, aggression, medication difficulties, sleep disorders and all the other problems that can occur. The two types of day hospital should liaise closely as they will have many people who will need both types of expertise, such as the problem of incontinence in the elderly confused.
Many day hospitals for the elderly mentally infirm use the technique of reality orientation therapy and can tea-chit to the carers. This involves telling the sufferer as often as possible about current things, especially the day, where they are, etc. Dementia sufferers especially live in the past, so this technique uses those memories as a starting point for conversation and then gently brings the person forwards to the present, reinforcing things you particularly want them to remember. It can be used to help with incontinence or to find their own room at night. A few facts are repeated over and over again so that the sufferer remembers that the toilet door is yellow and hence always goes to the right place (sometimes helped with yellow stripes on the floor leading to it) and that their bedroom door has a symbol on it (usually pertinent to them). In one home I know of, each resident has their own symbol on the door; the only problem came when two ex-bus drivers went to stay there and both wanted pictures of buses on the door.
*72/128/5*
GENERAL HEALTH
- The expiry date is mentioned on each blister. It is different for different batches. The shelf life is 2 years from the date of manufacture and would differ from batch to batch depending on when they were manufactured.
- Read the product information leaflet provided with the product before using it.
Information that this website contains are general information only and are not intended as a replacement for advise and recommendations made by your medical practitioner. We do not make any warranty or represent the accuracy of information supplied herein. We reserve the right to omit portions, correct errors or withdraw an entire page on this website as we see fit without prior notice.
Information about a certain drug, its uses, recommended dosages and side effects do not serve as a substitute to a prescription or information relayed to you by a licensed medical practitioner. These materials are just a general overview about the product. Likewise, we do not endorse use of any drug found on this site.
Use of this site is at your sole risk. We disclaim responsibility for reliance you place upon the information that we posted on this site. Always seek medical advice from a professional healthcare and discuss thoroughly your intention of using any of the medicine that is offered in this website.
|
