Elderly care is an important part of today’s society. Elderly people in particular require more complex care that is not always possible at home by relatives. Diseases of old age, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, require medical care. Family members are often severely overwhelmed with the effects of such conditions, especially since these diseases also bring with them very unpleasant accompanying circumstances that make it necessary to care for a mental one in addition to physical care. Forgetfulness, insults, escape into own youth memories, which are taken for real, are only some of the few examples, which again lead to the fact that the concerned old person exposes himself frequently to dangers and needs therefore all the more a nursing-medical supervision.
What is the care of the elderly?
Elderly care takes care of people in need of help, who can no longer manage their daily lives themselves. They are not only cared for and given medical attention, but are also exposed to meaningful occupations. Elderly care takes care of people in need of help who can no longer manage their everyday lives themselves. They are not only cared for and medically attended to, but also confronted with meaningful occupations that strengthen not only the mind, but also the body. Care for the elderly often takes place in nursing homes, in outpatient elderly care services, in gerontopsychiatric and geriatric departments in hospitals, in hospices and rehabilitation clinics. In addition, there are geriatric caregivers who provide personal care in private homes to relieve the burden on the family without depriving the elderly person of his or her home and familiar surroundings. Thus, the primary purpose of geriatric care is to provide stable living conditions for the elderly. In doing so, the elderly person, even if he or she is gradually losing his or her social, physical and mental abilities, should not simply be cared for and dismissed; rather, the goal of elder care is often also to maintain and accordingly promote the self-care of the elderly person or the person who is otherwise restricted for everyday life. This involves not only asking and stabilizing the affected person himself, but also involving family members.
Treatments and therapies
The care itself is an extremely demanding task and requires not only the love of man, but also a lot of patience, commitment and skill. Especially dealing with old people, who are often no longer satisfied and often for no apparent reason, requires the geriatric nurse some strength of character. In addition, his work is always an interference with the right of self-determination of a person who was accustomed to regulate and organize his own life, lived, worked, founded a family, which in such a situation of need for care can lead to dissatisfaction and frustration, refusal and insults. Some elderly people, without ever having been affected before in life, are also prone to sudden outbursts of violence, against which the elderly caregiver must be armed. Physical care is all the more difficult if the person tries to boycott the measures out of shame or a lack of understanding. If certain clinical pictures are added, which, such as dementia, entail a loss of brain activity, care becomes an even greater challenge, especially because the person in need of care does not know what he or she is doing and, in addition, is a stranger who does not automatically elicit sympathy, as would much more likely be the case with affected family members. Elderly care as a profession has continued to improve over the years. Precisely because of medical advances, sympathy for the elderly has increased. Professional care, available medications and technical everyday aids, in addition to a more elaborate implementation of various innovations and care concepts require a geriatric nurse consequently also a higher qualification and training. This usually takes three years. In addition, however, there is also the use of temporarily employed staff, e.g. people doing their civilian service. Repeated abuses in nursing homes and facilities were viewed critically, involving not only questionable neglect but also the use of violence by nursing staff unsuited to the task.Even various protective measures have not always been able to remedy this. Likewise, the shortage of nursing staff is an ongoing problem in the field of care for the elderly. It is still considered a menial occupation, and caring for people in need of care and the elderly is also a great strain on one’s psyche. It is not uncommon for this work to bring strong frustration, which in turn can lead to physical and mental problems for the caregiver. Nevertheless, the need for geriatric caregivers continues to grow.
Diagnosis and examination methods
Within Germany, different care levels differ, which in turn determine not only the amount of a financial support, but also the degree of care needed. A low care level allows care by relatives. A higher level may require a private nursing service or a stay in a hospital or nursing home. In this case, care for the elderly is financed by benefits from long-term care insurance. Professional care for the elderly is also divided into day care and inpatient care. In the first case, there are day and night care facilities, for example, to bridge a time when relatives are unable to care for the patient at home. There is also hourly care, where not only the elderly, but also sick or disabled persons are cared for. The second variant often takes place as complete care in nursing or retirement homes. These are usually in close contact with hospitals or have their own in-house medical care. Concepts are also now being designed for end-of-life care, which can take place in inpatient nursing facilities.
