Types of Elderly Care of Services

TYPES OF ELDERLY CARE OF SERVICES

·           Health promotion

·           Preventive services

·           Rehabilitative services

·           Home based care

·           Old age pension scheme

1. Health Promotion

Geriatric clinics are available in PHC, community health centres, and district level to provide care.

Objective

·           Health education related to healthy aging.

·           Domiciliary visit to home bound / bed ridden elderly persons.

·           Arrange for suitable calipers and supportive devices (walking sticks, callipers, infared lamp, shoulder wheel, pulley walkers)

·           Linkage with other support groups and day Care Centre.

·           30 bedded geriatric ward for in patient care and dedicated beds for the elderly patients in the carious specialities

·           Laboratory investigation required for elderly with a special sample collection centre in the OPD block.

·            Tertiary health care to the cases referred from medical colleges, district hospitals and below.

2. Preventive Services

·           Primary prevention : refers to prevention of disease (e.g., immunization, chemoprophylaxis)

·           Secondary prevention: is the early detection of disease before it becomes symptomatic (e.g. mammography to detect early breast cancer)

·           Tertiary prevention: refers to activities to optimize health once disease is already detected.

Primary Prevention

Definition

Primary Prevention is concerned with preventing the onset of disease it aims to reduce the incidence of disease.

a. Councelling, life style modification

·           Diet

·           Physical activity

·           Safety and injury prevention

·           Smoking cessation

·           Dental care

b. Immunizations

Secondary Prevention

Definition: Secondary prevention aims to reduce the impact of a disease or injury that has already occurred. Regular screening is required to detect diseases in its earliest stage.

Hypertension : check blood pressure at least annually

·            Obesity and malnutrition : measures weight and height at least annually

·           Visual deficits: Routine screening with a snellen chart annually

·           Hearing impairment: it is recommended to periodically questioning older adults about their hearing abilities annually.

·           Dyslipidemia : Patients with prior MI or angina should be screened for lipid abnormalities annually.

Tertiary Prevention

Definition: Tertiary prevention refers to interventions designed to arrest the progress of an established disease and to control its complications.

3. Rehabilitative Services

Definition: Rehabilitation is a treatment designed to facilitate the process of recovery from injury, illness or disease to normal condition as possible.

1. Eating a healthy diet

•            Especially rich in minerals and vitamins so as to provide necessary protection to the bones and from other host of illness too

•            Includes also adequate water consumption

Four Simple Rules For Elderly Diet

·            Divide the daily food intake into 3 – 4 small meals.

·           Should eat foods like fruits, vegetables, which needs some chewing

·           Advice them to take foods containing fibres like course cereals and vegetables

·           Avoid fatty foods.

2. Regular yoga or Exercise Regime

To follow a disciplined schedule of favourably yoga practices with or without mild exercises.

How senior citizen should do Yoga

•            They should perform yoga under the guidance of yoga expert

·           The instructor should be aware of the health concerns and ability level

·           Reduce the length of time

·           Encourage them and praise their effort

·            Do not perform a lot of complicated poses

Best Yoga Asanas for Elderly

•     Shavasana              

•     Bhujanasana

•     Uttanapadasana      

•     Makarasana

•     Naukasana              

•     AnulomVilom

•     Pawanmuktasana    

•     Pranayama

•     Ardhashalbhasana  

•     Bhramri

•     Shalbhasana           

•     Pranayama

Advantages of Yoga for Elderly

•  Yoga helps to reduce positive pressure and increase negative pressure

•  Yoga reduces urinary acidity and uropepsin

•  Reduction of high blood pressure, heart rate and coronary problems

3. Active Life Style

·           It includes indulging in favourite part time of hobbies apart from the exercises.

·           Prevents stagnation (Tamas) from accumulating causing further degeneration and depression.

·           Should be motivated to do those activities. Which was always yearned to do while they were younger.

4. Take occasional alternative Therapies

·            Massage

·            Hydrotherapy

·            Acupuncture

·            Chromotherapy

·            Diet therapy

·            Ayurvedic rejuvenation therapies

·            Physiotherapy

·            Occupational therapy

5. Avoid harmful habits

·           Smoking

·           Strict dieting

·           Alcohol

·           High caffeine consumption

4. Home Based Care

A home health nurse can assist in the care of the aged by helping the family to provide safe housing. Good diet, happy surrounding and some kind of recreation. This will help the old aged to overcome infection, mental stain and frustration, bed sore.

5. Old Age Pension for the General Public

•            Indira Gandhi national old age pension scheme. (IGNOAPS)

•            started on19th Nov 2007.

•            All BPL (below poverty line) families

•            All pension of 65 years or above

•            Central assistance at the rate of Rs. 200 per

•            month per beneficiary

Status have been urged to give matching accounts.

Annapurna

Free food grains (wheat or rice) upto 10 kg per month are provided to older persons 65 years or above who are other wise eligible for oldage pension under the national old age pension scheme.

Insurance Schemes

Rashtriyaswasthyabrmayojana

·           It was from 1st April 2008

·           Ministry of labour and employment, gross

·           To provide health insurance coverage for BPL families.

Varistha Mediclaim Policy

·           Covers hospitalization and domiciliary hospitalization expenses.

·           Coronary artery surgery, cancer, renal failure, stroke, multiple sclerosis and major organ transplants. Paralysis and blindness are covered at extra premilem.

Improving Quality Of Life

·            Cultural programme

·           Old age club

·           Meals on wheel service

·           Home help

·           Old age home (Vruddhashrama)