LPN
Have you heard of Age-Friendly Healthcare? Most people being cared for, regardless of their healthcare setting, are older adults. Several problems have been found in the healthcare system that place unnecessary burdens on older patients and the healthcare industry. Older adults often receive unwanted care and treatment, are harmed by inappropriate medications, see a decline functionally due to inactivity, experience delirium and cognitive decline that could be effectively addressed, and are subject to avoidable harm and death.
As we live longer, we need a health system that understands what makes patient care unique as we age. Age-friendly health systems pay special attention to providing older adults with the best care possible.
The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, American Hospital Association and Catholic Health Association of the United States, launched the age-friendly health systems initiative in 2019.
And Grantmakers in Aging (GIA) defines age-friendly health systems as those that “aim to follow an essential set of evidence-based practices, cause no harm, and align with what matters to older adults and their caregivers.”
Healthcare is becoming increasingly burdensome. People with chronic conditions and their caregivers spend an average of two hours daily on healthcare tasks. An estimated 60% to 70% of older adults with multiple chronic conditions are the primary healthcare recipients.
Treating individual diseases without considering each person’s overall health status and life situation can result in conflicting provider recommendations and, in some cases, worsen co-existing conditions.
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing homes and among underserved older adults raised awareness of the need to ensure age-friendly and safe care for those in times and situations of greatest need.
Outcomes that best show if patients are getting what they want from healthcare include “physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and social functioning,” according to GIA.
“Unfortunately, these patient-centered functional outcomes do not appear in electronic health records (EHRs), generally do not determine payment or quality, and are largely ignored in most healthcare settings,” the GIA issue brief stated. “This unfortunate disconnect is detrimental to all patients, and particularly older adults. The movement to make health systems age-friendly exists to address this disconnect.”
The 4Ms framework assesses and acts on: What Matters (health priorities), Medication, Mentation (dementia, delirium, and depression), and Mobility (function):
Nurses Improving Care for Health System Elders (NICHE), a group of 500 members, “imparts principles and tools to stimulate changes in clinical practice to achieve patient-centered nursing care for older adults in healthcare facilities,” according to its website.
This group works to accomplish this by providing further specialized continuing education in geriatrics to CNAs, LPNs, RNs, and APRNs.
As an LPN for almost a decade, I have experience in skilled nursing facilities and long-term care. I have always been passionate about the elderly population and believe they are some of our most vulnerable patients as medical professionals. I believe in the mission of age-friendly healthcare, which is an essential part of the healthcare system.
With the expected substantial growth of the elderly population, it’s vital to have a healthcare system equipped to address their complex needs properly. Everyone working in healthcare can play a role in making age-friendly care possible. Keeping the 4M framework in mind and participating in specialized continuing education in geriatrics is essential to providing well-rounded healthcare to older adults.
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