The clinical site that was used for the week was the Elderly Day Care Center. The center was a place where the elderly could receive treatment and support from some of their health conditions. The two areas of difficulty that were encountered at the Elderly Day Care Center were the difficulty of interaction due to memory loss among the elderly population and complications from pharmacotherapy.
The interaction of individuals that were elderly showed that most of them suffered from multiple diseases due to aging. It was difficult for most practitioners to have an accurate diagnosis as multiple diseases had symptoms that were overlapping. However, the most difficult thing encountered with the multiple diseases was the fact some of them had experienced memory loss or had symptoms of confusion. Those that had challenges with their memory had dementia and showed several symptoms such as gradual memory loss, intellectual impairment, lack of emotional control, and poor problem-solving skills (Canevelli et al., 2016). Interacting with this group was challenging as some of them resisted treatment and they required extra care. However, I was able to show an adequate understanding of their problems and everything went on smoothly.
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The problem of pharmacotherapy was also caused by the elderly having to deal with multiple diseases and thus were on multiple drugs. Some of them were not keen on the drugs that they took and could easily forget their dosage. It was thus necessary to remind them about the complete list of drugs they were taking and to monitor keenly. Additionally, there was also the problem of adverse drug reactions as a result of dealing with multiple drugs. One had to monitor that the drugs taken did not result in any adverse reactions (Davies & O'mahony, 2015). It was also necessary to ensure that the drugs that they were given would still be effective as the aging elderly body may not tolerate some drugs effectively.
While there were a few challenges when working at the clinical site of the Elderly Day Care, this provided an opportunity to learn about better healthcare practices. It enabled growth and built a practical experience regarding how to solve some of the challenges.
References
Canevelli, M., Valletta, M., Trebbastoni, A., Sarli, G., D’Antonio, F., Tariciotti, L., ... & Bruno, G. (2016). Sundowning in dementia: clinical relevance, pathophysiological determinants, and therapeutic approaches. Frontiers in medicine , 3 , 73.
Davies, E. A., & O'mahony, M. S. (2015). Adverse drug reactions in special populations–the elderly. British journal of clinical pharmacology , 80 (4), 796-807.
