title: [Geriatric day care hospital, an apport for the general practitioner in the management and follow-up of cognitive disorders].
abstract: The management of cognitive disorders requires a complex evaluation, especially since patients are frail, polypathological and because the complications are numerous. The general practitioner (GP) has an important role in detecting predictive signs but his task to specify the diagnosis and to organize the follow-up is not easy. Evaluating the patient as well as his/her surroundings and taking into account the caregivers' difficulties is necessary. The number of patients with cognitive disorders is huge and could rise with the growth of life expectancy and the increased incidence of dementia for the elderly. The geriatric day care hospital activities are developing further in Belgium since 2006 thanks to the funding of pilot projects. These structures are benefiting from a multidisciplinary team lead by a geriatrician. This paper presents what the geriatric day care hospital brings to the GP in the diagnosis and the follow-up of cognitive disorders. The geriatric day care hospital realizes diagnosis and follow-up within a suited environment. The multidisciplinary teams are used to perform complex assessment of frail patients. The various patient comorbidities are evaluated taking into account both the environment in which the patient lives and his/her caregivers. The collected data allows the setup, together with the GP, of a care plan optimizing the support of the patient and his/her surroundings.
authors.affiliation: Service de Gériatrie, C.H. du Bois de l'Abbaye et de Hesbaye, Seraing. n.berg@chbah.be
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giet
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D058006:General Practice; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans