Helping the elderly understand conditions affecting them
Psychogeriatrician Dr Ryan Fuller and his team, from the Memory Care facility, at the Life New Kensington Clinic, visited the Life Glynnview Private Hospital, on September 28, to talk about wellness in older people.
This talk came days before International Day of Older Persons, celebrated on October 1.
People from various frail care centres attended the talk to learn about ways to take care of and treat the elderly, by gaining more insight about conditions from which some elderly people suffer.
“We should never refer to the unit where the elderly stay as the psychiatric unit, instead we should call it a wellness unit,” Fuller said.
According to him, there are also several geriatric syndromes that the elderly face, including intellectual impairment, immobility, instability, incontinence, impotence, insomnia, immune deficiency, inanition, impaired vision or hearing.
Clinical psychologist Riette du Preez explained that psychology is a “talking cure” for individuals, groups, families and caregivers.
“Psychologists help caregivers who face anxiety, depression and so forth,” she said.
“With families, they are able to better their communication with each other and we also help patients who need to deal with loss.”
Urvashi Maganlal, who is also a clinical psychologist, but deals specifically with neuropsychology, explained that there is a link between the emotional, physical and mental state of a person.
“I take a closer look at what people can do instead of what they cannot do,” she said.
“Large assessments are done to conduct more than the damage.
“We need to understand that there is damage but, more so, establish what the damage means.”
Occupational therapist Jackie Fabian explained that elderly people who have problems, such as driving, need to be eased into using alternate methods.
“We need to always look at the individual in their environment, so that they are still able to do what they need to,” Fabian said.
“For example, if a person drives and they should not drive any longer, always ensure that there is another means or mode of transport for them to reach their destination.”
Occupational therapy helps the elderly to adjust to alternatives, so that they can still live a meaningful and satisfactory life.
Speaker Hylton Marks, who is a social worker, said individual and family therapy is important to help the elderly.
He gave several ways to understand the situation of the person in need, including establishing what they know and understand (fact finding), their hopes and expectations in life and themselves and their coping mechanisms, to name a few.
Also read: Medical Professionals
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