Urgent outpatient evaluations
Currently, elderly patients residing at home or in the elderly home are cared for by family physicians who, in cases of urgent need, find themselves obliged to send the patient to the emergency room. This is an environment that is often unfavorable for taking care of the frail elderly with geriatric conditions; think especially of dementia pathology, often associated with behavioral disorders.
To address this critical issue and ensure timely care of the frail geriatric patient,Mendrisio Regional Hospital has activated a dedicated outpatient clinic for geriatric emergencies and deferred emergencies. The same is led by the head doctor of geriatrics, who, in addition to offering regular attendance in the outpatient setting, dedicates three afternoons a week to the emergencies outpatient clinic.
Local attending physicians can request a specialist evaluation and book a short-term outpatient visit through the geriatrics secretariat.
The care team also includes a nurse specialist, who possesses extensive autonomy in geriatric case management and is involved in disease prevention, direct and indirect care for patients and family members, as well as rehabilitative care and chronic disease management.
The outpatient clinic caters to geriatric patients, including elderly home residents, who require urgent outpatient evaluations in the context of psycho-behavioral disorders and somatic disorders. In this sense, the service offered aims to support the activity of the treating physicians on the territory, who are confronted with the difficulties of managing the frail elderly patient with behavioral disorders, due to advanced neurocognitive disorders and/or with acute somatic complications.
The possibility of booking an appointment under urgent or deferred urgency also avoids waiting in the emergency room, as the patient is received in dedicated rooms and the medical and nursing presence is promptly guaranteed.
