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Patient Education for Older Persons

Discuss in detail, older adult patient education issues and the influence patient education has in health care using the experiences this patients following interview.

1. Did a patient education representative give you instructions on how to care for yourself after your illness or operation?
Yes he did. After my total knee replacement surgery the surgeon told me what movements to avoid and referred me to a physical therapist.

2. Did a health care professional, pharmacist, nurse, doctor, or elder counselor advise you on your medication, diet, or exercise?
Yes I was informed by my surgeon what medications to take and my nurse instructed me on when to take the medications. The physical therapist also told me what movements to avoid and gave me a few light exercises to do during the day.

3. Who assisted you at home after your illness or operation?
My husband and children work full time so I had a home health aide come a few hours a day to help me around the house.

4. Do you know of any assistance services that would help you stay in your home as you get older? (food, transportation, medication)
Yes my local pharmacy has a delivery service that I can use and a few grocery stores also deliver. I could call a car service for transportation if I was unable to drive but that could get costly. I hope and pray that me or my husband will still be able to drive or get rides from the kids if needed.

Solution Preview

In the area of patient education, even with the best treatment and education, communication can be misconstrued or a patient can forget the context. When communicated well and a patient follows the advisement, it can mean effective healing or recovery from an ailment or condition, which ultimately can yield financial savings, in the long run. With regard to referral, it puts a bit of personal empowerment in the hands of the patient. He does not become entirely dependent on the medical provider to do everything, like in the case of working with a physical therapist, which ultimately will require some self-care.

There are pros and cons to having a variety of health ...

Solution Summary

After care follow up questions for mature patients such as issues with the pharmacist, nurse, doctor, or elder counselor are discussed.