After passing a certain age, it may become challenging to take care of yourself. Some elders even face difficulties in remembering things. You can probably relate if you’ve seen aging seniors who suffer from multiple illnesses; it can be seen as a side effect of growing older but it doesn’t have to be. A significant number of elders in this country suffer from chronic diseases. Meeting with a physician and a few specialists is a routine monthly task. This is where care coordination could really help a lot.
When you consult multiple health care specialists you have to ensure that they are aware of the rest of the treatments and medications. When you have someone else take care of you, maybe your family member or a hired caretaker you have to be sure that they know every detail about every treatment and prescribed medication. Failure of this coordination can lead to fatal reactions between two contradicting treatments.
Now, imagine how difficult it would be for our aging parents to remember and deliver all this information amongst all the doctors or caretakers. Thus, care coordination is extremely important for the elderly to save them from any mishaps due to misinformation amongst the health specialists. It is the duty of every health expert treating the patient, every family member or caretaker looking after the patient, or any third party concerned with the health of the patient to maintain care coordination so that that aging senior can receive proper treatment.
Let’s understand in a little depth why care coordination for the elders is so important...
Imagine there is a 75 years old woman who slipped and fell in her bathroom. She feels like she might have broken a bone so she schedules an appointment with an orthopedic doctor. She is suffering from high blood pressure and visits her cardiologist every month. Now, the new doctor asked her about any medications she is taking before writing her the prescription. But she was not able to remember the names. In this case, if the doctor prescribes without understanding the medical history of the woman it may have adverse consequences because medicine often reacts when not paired in the correct way. So, care coordination between the cardiologist and orthopedic is important.
This is just one scenario. There are millions of complicated medical cases of the aging population that can be mistakenly diagnosed or treated due to failure of care coordination. Thus, care coordination acts as a lifesaver, and it is essential to ensure proper continuum of care in every senior’s treatment.
