Elderly Flashcards
Who are the elderly?
- 60 years old
- senior citizens
What Happens When We Age?
Aging -> normal process
As doctors, why is it important to know what happens?
- disease vs normal aging
- elderly patients are less likely to complain with the onset of illness
- we can communicate with them better
What Happens When We Age? Cardiovascular System
- heart and blood vessels becomes stiffer
- heart enlarges
diseases: Hypertension; Myocardial Infarction
What Happens When We Age? Respiratory System
- lungs become stiffer
- respiratory muscle strength and endurance diminishes
- chest wall becomes more rigid
What Happens When We Age? Gastrointestinal System
- Stomach
Atrophic gastritis
Achlorhydria
Ulcers - Liver
- Intestines
What Happens When We Age? Musculoskeletal System
- bone loss -> universal
- muscles
- decrease in strength, endurance, size and weight
- can be lessened by regular physical activity - increased body fat percentage
What Happens When We Age? Female Reproductive System
menopause
- 45-52 years old
- ovaries become fibrotic and atrophy
- lower estrogen levels (atrophic changes in the uterus and vagina; menopausal symptoms)
What Happens When We Age? Male Reproductive System
- more gradual decline
- andropause
- decrease in testosterone levels
- decreased libido
- loss in muscle strength - rate of sperm production is decreased but fertility is mostly maintained
What Happens When We Age? Nervous System
- weight of brain peaks at 20 years old
- changes in nerve cells:
1. decrease in the number of dendrites
2. some may have demyelination - Attention (usually maintained up to old age)
- Language (semantic knowledge is affected)
What Happens When We Age? Nervous System (Memory)
- most studied complaint
- 2nd most common complaint
- (+) decline in information processing:
encoding: getting information to the system
storage: retaining information
retrieval: recalling information
What Happens When We Age? Nervous System
- Visual-Spatial Ability
- General Information
- problem solving ability declines with age
- stable:
comprehension
arithmetic
vocabulary
What Happens When We Age? Sensory System (Vision)
- most common sensory problem
- dry eyes
- changes:
1. corneal flattening
2. lens transparency
3. less efficient retina
4. reduced lens elasticity
What Happens When We Age? Sensory System (Hearing)
- after age 60, (+) decrease in hearing sensitivity by 10 dB each decade
- changes:
1. tympanic membrane stiffens
2. ossicles stiffen
What Happens When We Age? Sensory System
- Smell
- decrease in functioning smell receptors
- by age 80, sense of smell is reduced by half - Taste - diminishes with age
- Touch - decreases with age
COMPREHENSIVE GERIATRIC ASSESSMENT: SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
- Cognitive impairments are common
- Illnesses have atypical and non-specific presentations
- The severity of illnesses may be underestimated
COMPREHENSIVE GERIATRIC ASSESSMENT
HISTORY TAKING
- Medication history
- Personal and social history
- Review of systems
- Functional assessment - Pt’s capacity for independent living
- Assessment of depression - Geriatric Depression Scale is used
- Environmental History
- Sexual history
COMPREHENSIVE GERIATRIC ASSESSMENT: Personal and social history
Personal habits – immunization, alcohol use, tobacco use, caffeine intake, sleep patterns
Dietary assessment – Mini-Nutrition Assessment (MNA)
Emotional History – emotional difficulties and adjustments, patterns of coping with stress
Occupational /Retirement status
Social supports – living relatives, significant others
ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING (ADL)
D – ressing E – ating A – mbulating T – oileting H – ygiene
INSTRUMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING (IADL)
S – hopping H – ousekeeping A – ccounting F – ood preparation T – ransportation
COMPREHENSIVE GERIATRIC ASSESSMENT: Environmental History
- living arrangements
- physical layout of homes
- recommendations for adaptive devices, etc
COMPREHENSIVE GERIATRIC ASSESSMENT: PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
- Vital signs
- General Appearance
- HEENT examination
- Systems Exam
- Neurological and Psychiatric Examination
- Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is good instrument for cognitive testing - Assessment of gait, mobility and balance
Tips When Seeing Elderly Patients 1
- Establish rapport.
- Allow extra time for older patients.
- Avoid distractions.
- Sit face to face.
- Maintain eye contact.
- Listen.
- Speak slowly, clearly and loudly.
- Use short, simple words and sentences.
Tips When Seeing Elderly Patients 2
- Stick to one topic at a time.
- Simplify and write down your instructions.
- Use charts, models and pictures.
- Frequently summarize the most important points.
- Give an opportunity to ask questions and to express themselves.
- Keep the patient relaxed and focused.
- Say goodbye.
primary goal: maximize the quality of life
- patient should be: pain-free; comfortable
- provide physical, social, psychological support
Hospice Care
Philosophy of Hospice Care
- Hospice affirms life.
- It recognizes dying as a normal process.
- Palliative care is not withholding treatment but rather a proactive treatment plan appropriate to the end stages of life.
- Neither hastens nor postpones death
- Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms.
- It exist in the hope that through appropriate care, patients and families maybe free to attain a degree of mental and spiritual preparation for death that is satisfactory to them.
Interdisciplinary Team (Hospice Care)
- Physicians
- Psychologists
- Therapists
Role of the Physician (Hospice Care)
- leader of the hospice team
2. symptom-control
Symptom Control Principles (Hospice Care)
- Listen to the patient.
- Make a diagnosis before treating.
- Terminally ill patients are likely to have multiple symptoms.
- Explanation is part of treatment.
- Know the drugs you use and know them well.
Symptom Control (Hospice Care)
- PAIN
- ANOREXIA
- NAUSEA AND VOMITING
- BED SORES
- DEPRESSION
- GRIEF
Symptom Control (Hospice Care) : PAIN
- Experienced by 70% of cancer patients
- Could be: physical; psychosocial; spiritual
Principles: PAIN
- Define the type and site of pain.
- Treat each pain specifically.
- Anticipate pain breakthrough.
- Review the regimen frequently and regularly.
- Treat “total” pain.
ANOREXIA: Causes
- Mouth infections
- Nausea
- Constipation
- Depression
- Drugs
- Radiotherapy
- The disease itself
ANOREXIA: Help the patient eat by
- Knowing the patient’s preference
- Serving the food that the patient wants
- Offering small portions on a small plate
- Serving hot soup, ice cream and fruits
- Allowing someone to eat with the patient
- Giving supplemental vitamins and minerals
True or False
IV fluid, total parenteral nutrition and tube feedings have not been shown to prolong lives of dying pts.
True
To alleviate nausea and vomiting
- Offer very small meals, liquid & soft food, ice chips
- Let the patientt sit up after eating
- Let patient keep distance from smelly food/odor
- Avoid fatty, sweet, spicy food
- Schedule eating before radiotherapy or chemotherapy
- Offer relaxation and breathing exercises
Nausea And Vomiting: Medications
Metoclopromide
Phenothiazines
- promethazine 25mg orally 4x a day
- prochlorperazine 10mg orally before meals
BED SORES: General principles of treatment
- Pressure reduction
- Control of infection
- Debridement
- Dressings and nutritional support
(Grief)
- normal process
- usually begins before an anticipated death
Grieving
- is a way of allowing us to prepare emotionally for the inevitable
Intense grieving: 3 months – 1 year
Profound grieving: > 2years
Anticipatory Grief
Stages of Grief
- Shock
- Emotional release
- Depression, loneliness, and a sense of isolation
- Physical symptoms of distress
- Feeling of panic
- A sense of guilt
- Anger or rage
- Inability to return to usual activities
- The gradual regaining of hope
- Acceptance as we adjust our lives to reality
- preventive intervention for high risk families
- optimize family functioning
- facilitate the sharing of grief
Family focused grief therapy (FFGT)
3 phases of FFGT
- Assessment - identify issues or concerns; therapeutic plan
- Intervention - Focusing on agreed concerns
- Termination - Incorporating consideration and termination of therapy
Death and Bereavement
Bereavement: the event of loss
Grief: emotional response to the event of loss
Bereavement guidelines
- Understanding anticipatory grief
- Anticipating the dimensions of bereavement
- Moving through grief
- Working through pain
Stages of Dying
Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance
THE CAREGIVER: SUPPORT SYSTEM
- parent
- spouse
- children
- siblings
- friends and neighbors
Responsibilities of a GOOD Caregiver
- Respect patient’s privacy and individuality.
- Cultivate the patient’s trust.
- Be objective in dealing with the patient. Never show pity.
- Communicate thoughts clearly.
- Approach the patient with an open mind. Never antagonize.
- Be organized in the process of caregiving.
- Have good hygiene.
- Perform the different caregiver skills adequately
Managing the Stress of Caregiving 1-5
- Take care of your health.
- Involve others.
- Maintain social contacts. – isolation increases stress
- Get help from community services and organizations.
- Talk about it
Managing the Stress of Caregiving 6-10
- Deal constructively with negative feelings
- Talking to older parents about independence
- Make a list
- Dealing with resistance
- Focus on key points.
- process of social influence
- enlist the aid and support of others
GOAL: accomplishment of a common task
Leadership
leadership is about capacity:
- to listen and observe
- to use their expertise as a starting point to encourage dialogue between all levels of decision-making
- to establish processes and transparency in decision-making
- to articulate their own values and visions clearly but not impose them
leadership is about:
- setting and not just reacting to agendas
- identifying problems
- initiate change that makes for substantial improvement rather than managing change
Leadership is about: 2
- creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen
- influencing the actions of the people: -> toward the attainment of defined goals
Actions of a Good Leader
- Issue orders that are: CLEAR; COMPLETE; WITHIN THE CAPABILITIES OF SUBORDINATES TO ACCOMPLISH
- provide continual training activity to subordinates
- motivate workers to meet expectations
- maintain proper discipline
- reward those who perform properly
Styles of Leadership
- Authoritarian or autocratic
- Participative or democratic
- Laissez faire or delegative or Free Reign
- leaders:
make decisions alone
demand strict compliance to orders
dictate each step taken - The leader is not necessarily hostile but is aloof from participation in work and commonly offers personal praise and criticism for the work done.
Authoritarian (autocratic)
When to become authoritarian:
- when you have all the information to solve the problem
- you are short on time
- your employees are well motivated
Characteristics:
- collective decision process by the members
- members are given choices
- collectively decide the division of labor
leaders:
- provide technical advice
- obtain information from group discussion
- act as a facilitator
- maintain the final decision making authority
Participative (democratic)
When to become participative:
- leader only has parts of the information - members have the other parts
- leader is not expected to know everything
Characteristics:
- members have freedom to decide
- limited, or no participation from the leader
leaders:
- limited participation
- uninvolved in work decisions, unless asked
- does not participate in division of labor
- infrequently gives praise
- leader is still responsible for the decisions that are made
Delegative (free reign)
When to become delegative:
- followers are able to analyze the situation
- followers are able to determine what needs to be done
- followers are able to do what needs to be done
- leaders must set priorities and delegate certain tasks
What type of person makes a good leader?
- leaders share a number of common personality traits and characteristics
- leadership emerges from these traits
- leadership is an innate, instinctive quality that you either have or don’t have
- empathy, assertiveness, good decision-making, and likability.
Trait theories
What does a good leader do?
- focus on how leaders behave
- Do they dictate what needs to be done and expect cooperation? Or do they involve the team in decisions to encourage acceptance and support?
Behavioral theories
Kurt Lewin developed a leadership framework based on a leader’s decision-making behavior.
Lewin’s Model
Lewin argued that there are three types of leaders:
- Autocratic leaders
- Democratic leaders
- Laissez-faire leaders
- the “best” leadership style is determined by balancing task, team, and individual responsibilities
- Leaders who spend time managing each of these elements will likely be more successful than those who focus mostly on only one element.
John Adair’s Action-Centered Leadership model
How does the situation influence good leadership?
the best leadership style is contingent on, or depends on, the situation
- When a decision is needed fast, which style is preferred?
- When the leader needs the full support of the team, is there a better way to lead? Should a leader be more people oriented or task oriented?
Contingency theories
- A popular contingency-based framework
- links leadership style with the maturity of individual members of the leader’s team.
Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory
- What is the source of the leader’s power?
- based on the different ways in which leaders use power and influence to get things done, and the leadership styles that emerge as a result
Power and influence theories
- the most well known of these theories
- using position to exert power VS using personal attributes to be powerful
French and Raven’s Five Forms of Power
French and Raven’s Five Forms of Power
- positional power
1. legitimate
2. reward
3. coercive - personal power
1. expert
2. referent
- The model suggests that using personal power is the better alternative and, because expert power (the power that comes with being a real expert in the job) is the most legitimate of these
- Similarly, leading by example is another highly effective way to establish and sustain a positive influence with your team.
French and Raven’s Five Forms of Power