Geriatric care services play an important role in advanced healthcare, as it makes the lives of the elderly/geriatric population easier by offering a wide range of services. Thus, there is an increasing demand for geriatric care services due to the growing elderly/geriatric population around the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2050, the world's population aged 60 years and older is expected to total 2 billion, up from 900 million in 2015. Moreover, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 40.3 million U.S. residents 65 years and older in the 2010 Census and more than 54 million on July 1, 2019. Thus, there is an increasing demand for geriatric care services worldwide.
The term geriatrics applies to the treatment of aging people. Geriatric care services help old age people to cope with life and their condition. Some common services of a geriatric care are home nursing, skilled care, adult day care, and long-term care. These services provide help by providing skilled care and companionship to the older person in their home setting. Home nursing is an essential part of geriatric care, as it provides the older people with skilled support during periods of physical disability. It also helps the older people to maintain their dignity and self-respect. Most of these services aim at ensuring comfort and hygiene in the house of the elderly. Geriatric assistants help in maintaining these basics.
Skilled care is a part of all the geriatric care services and it usually covers all the aspects of the medical, psychiatric and social care of the elderly. Skilled care is usually provided in a health care setting by trained health care professionals who are specialized in the respective field. These skilled care providers provide immediate and continuing medical care to the elderly patient, through telephone triage and referral system. Adult day care, also called in home daycare, is an ideal option for the elderly that requires constant supervision. It also saves them from having to move into a long term care facility. There are geriatric nursing homes and it is basically for those who require constant supervision but are not ready for long term care.
Long term care facilities are basically home-based care system. It involves an assisted living facility or a nursing care facility that offers care services, such as adult day care. There are also rehabilitation centers for those suffering from various medical conditions or those who have lost the ability to perform daily functions on their own. The rehabilitation center provides physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and psychological counseling for the patient. Apart from this, the center also organizes activities like exercise, counseling, shopping, companionship, and recreation. Long term care facilities, rehabilitation centers, and home health care are some of the different types of geriatric care.
Geriatrics is a rapidly growing area of science and medicine. This has widened the choices for elderly patients, who can now choose the type of care for themselves. Geriatrics, or geriatric care, is a specialty that focuses on health care of elderly people.
