ELDERLY HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS ASSESSMENT

Elderly Health Care Programs Assessment: The Effect of Assisted Living Facilities

Abstract

RCN has devised the assessment tool to assist both commissioners and providers in providing better care facilities for the elderly patient. However, in order to conform to the set standards it is imperative to articulate all requirements involved in 'expert' nursing with elderly patients, and a requirement to identify the criteria for the measurement of effective practice. The importance of the elderly patient's contribution to the assessment cannot be over-emphasised. It is vital that the client and their carer are involved in its completion. If the person being assessed is unable to contribute - for example because of lack of mental capacity - the views and experiences of their carers should be taken into account.

Elderly Health Care Programs Assessment: The Effect of Assisted Living Facilities

Introduction

Elderly patient have increasingly been the focus of health and social treatment policy (DH, 1999, 2001, 2003; DSSSP, 2002, 2004;WAG 2003 a & b; Scottish Executive, 2001 a & b, 2002). Health and social treatment policy impacts significantly on elderly patient, and in particular on their continuing treatment requirements. Changes in the boundaries of health provision and pressures for cost containment have profoundly affected elderly patient as well as service providers. Many elderly patient have found themselves means-tested for services that have historically been provided free of charge. Arrangements for NHS-sponsored nursing treatment for elderly patient (DH, 2003) limits the money available in England by the use of a formula that interprets low, medium and high requirement. In Scotland and Wales a contribution to the cost of treatment is paid. The RCN supports the principles of a multi-agency approach to assessment, like, for example, the single assessment process (SAP) (DH, 2002b) and the national service outline (DH, 2001). However, any multi-agency approach requirements to reflect, in both its structure and process, good, contemporary nursing practice.The introduction of the registered nursing treatment contribution (RNTC) in Britain (DH, 2001) requires nurses to calculate registered nursing time within a prescribed outline. This RCN assessment process was initially developed to assist nurses in the identification and articulation of their contribution to the health and social wellbeing of the elderly patient.

Literature Review

Continuing its primary intention, it can also be used to develop nursing treatment plans that are person-centred and that facilitate best nursing practice.The process will assist nurses to both clarify and quantify the nursing contributions to care,within the context of contemporary good practice. It is not meant to be used in isolation, but rather as the nursing component to the multi-disciplinary assessment of requirement in elderly patient. The process links with the outline for outcome definition developed by expert gerontological nurses and outlined in What a difference a nurse makes.The outline was formulated from the work of Seedhouse (1986) and Kitwood (1997), evidence of good practice and a review of the literature on the treatment of elderly patient. It promotes the concept of holistic treatment and the aim that elderly patient live as independent ...