Frail older patient care by interdisciplinary teams: a primer for generalists.
Frail older patients-unlike younger persons in the health care system or even well elders-require complex care. Most frail older patients have multiple chronic illnesses. Optimum care cannot be achieved by following the paradigm of ongoing traditional health care, which emphasizes disease and cure. Because no one health care professional can possibly have all of the specialized skills required to implement such a model of health care delivery, interdisciplinary team care has evolved. This paper describes the roles of the participating team members in the context of interdisciplinary care for frail older adults. In addition, the challenges that occur when Geriatric Interdisciplinary (ID) Teams involved in providing care to frail older patients are identified and discussed.
Dyer
Carmel Bitondo
CB
Baylor College of Medicine, Harris County Hospital District, Houston, TX 77004, USA.
Hyer
Kathryn
K
Feldt
Karen S
KS
Lindemann
David A
DA
Busby-Whitehead
Jan
J
Greenberg
Sherry
S
Kennedy
Robert D
RD
Flaherty
Ellen
E
D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006040:Goals; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007857:Leadership; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000458:organization & administration; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology; D024382:Professional Role; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012947:Social Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States