COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATING HEALTH CARE SPECIALISTS AT WORK WITH OLDER PEOPLE

Author(s):  
Dina Berloviene ◽  
Gunta Beta ◽  
Dita Role ◽  
Dagnija Deimante ◽  
Alida Samusevica

Health and social care specialists who work with older people and provide systematic direct and indirect professional care and support to people older than 65 and to their families, thus ensuring various care and support services in different environments including preventive, supportive, disease management, recuperative, paliative, short-term and long-term care, need specific competences in order to understand and ensure older people’s needs and care. Older people and especially frail older people can have problems that are interlinked, for instance, cognitive and functional limitations that are combined with psychosocial problems and social isolation. In order to develop students’ competence at work with older people- understanding and empathy, it is necessary to research these problems during the study process by integrating study courses that would ensure emphatic and reasonable attitude and action in clinical practice in the sphere of health and social welfare when taking care of older patients. Aim - To characterize acquisition process of professional competences of future health care specialists that are to be developed purposefully and applied when working with old people. Methodology – Analysis of study course descriptions in the study programme “Nursing”. Results - RSU study programme “Nursing” contains clearly defined descriptions of professional competences. 

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mette Reilev ◽  
Carina Lundby ◽  
John Jensen ◽  
Søren Post Larsen ◽  
Helene Hoffmann ◽  
...  

Abstract Background the increasing number of multimorbid older people places high demands on future health care systems. To inform the discussion on how to structure future care strategies, we aimed to describe the temporal relationship between admission, and morbidity and mortality in nursing home residents. Methods data on 5,179 older individuals admitted to 94 Danish nursing homes in 12 municipalities during 2015–2017 were linked to the nationwide Danish health registries to retrieve information on the temporal relation between nursing home admission and morbidity and mortality. Results at the time of nursing home admission, the majority were women (63%). Male residents were younger than women (median 82 vs 85 years) and had a higher prevalence of comorbidities (median Charlson score 2 vs 1 among women). The median survival after nursing home admission was 25.8 months, with the 3-year survival being 37%. Three-year survival was lower among men (29 vs 43% among women) and among the oldest residents (23% among those aged ≥90 years vs 64% among individuals ≤65 years). In addition to age and sex, predictors of mortality included hospitalisations prior to nursing home admission and a high burden of comorbidity. The rate of hospitalisations, primarily for reasons related to frailty, increased substantially during the 9 months prior to nursing home admission. Conclusion we provide detailed information on differences in morbidity and mortality across age span and sex at the time of nursing home admission, thereby contributing to the ongoing discussion of how to structure the future health care system.


1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
pp. 79-79
Author(s):  
Anonymous

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunju Suh ◽  
Mahdi Alhaery

PurposeWhile United States is among countries with the world’s highest coronavirus infections, its approaches and policies to reopen the economy vary by state. A lack of objective criteria and monitoring toward satisfying the criteria can lead to another COVID-19 outbreak and business closures. Considering the pressing need to return to normalcy without a rebound of COVID-19 infections and deaths, an index that provides a data-driven and objective insight is urgently needed. Hence, a method was devised to assess the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the degree of progress any state has made in containing the spread of COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachUsing measures such as the weekly averages of daily new deaths, ICU bed occupancy rates, positive cases and test positivity rates, two indexes were developed: COVID-19 reopening readiness and severity.FindingsA clear difference in the pandemic severity trends can be observed between states, which is possibly due to the disparity in the state’s response to coronavirus. A sharp upward trend in index values requires caution prior to moving to the next phase of reopening.Originality/valueThe composite indexes advanced in this study will provide a universal, standardized and unbiased view of each state’s readiness to reopen and allow comparisons between states. This in turn can help governments and health-care agencies take counter measures if needed as to the anticipated demand for future health-care services and minimize adverse consequences of opening.


2017 ◽  
Vol 206 (9) ◽  
pp. 378-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith N Hudson ◽  
Kathryn M Weston ◽  
Elizabeth A Farmer

2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
DEIRDRE HEENAN

Against a background of limited previous research, this paper examines the access to health and social care among older people in the farming communities of County Down, Northern Ireland. In-depth interviews were conducted with 45 people aged 60 or more years living on family farms to collect information about health care needs and service use and adequacy. In addition, interviews with service providers provided information on their perceptions of the farming communities' needs. The findings indicate that there are specific rural dimensions of access to services and that among the respondents there was substantial unmet need. For many farming families, using services is determined by much more than being able to reach them physically. The lack of reliable information, the culture of stoicism and the absence of appropriate services impeded obtaining effective support. Recent health care policies and strategies have stressed the importance of developing local services that are responsive to need in consultation with service users, but there is worryingly little evidence that this has occurred. It is concluded that if effective outcomes are to be achieved, policies must recognise the specific characteristics of rural populations and be sensitive to the needs, attitudes and expectations of farming families. The current lack of understanding about the distinct needs of these communities at present exacerbates the isolation and marginalisation of already vulnerable older people.


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