Holistic Care: Why & How (ageing at home)

Chapter Title 3: Holistic Care: Why and How?

Overview:

• Explanation of the elements of holistic care
• Detailed description, guidelines and checklists of how to implement holistic care in terms of:
  • Assessment
  • Initial home visit
  • Social assessment
  • Goal setting
• Includes diagrams and explanation of genograms and ecomaps

Description:

Health care professionals working with aged care people in a community setting deal primarily with the impact of the consequences of disease or impairment. They assist the person - and their family and support people - by helping them regain the overall balance in their life. However, unless professionals have both the interest and skills to elicit what the impact and consequences mean to the person and their family so that trust and an effective team approach will develop between the ageing person and the professional, a mutually satisfying outcome will not be achieved. This chapter explores how holistic care can be achieved and, therefore, how to also achieve a mutually satisfying outcome.

Topics:

• Introduction
• How much involvement do you really have?
• Making a difference
• Elements of holistic care
• Implementing holistic care: Assessment, Initial home visit, Social assessment and Goal setting:
  • Supervision of your practice
  • Assessment
  • What should be included in an assessment?
  • Initial home visit: A checklist
  • How to do a social assessment
  • Why use social assessment tools?
  • Goal setting: some ideas about establishing realistic, client-centred goals
  • Start by asking the person what they want
  • Working in the community requires collaboration
  • Transition to residential care
• References

Speaker / Author:

Theresa Cluning

Registered Nurse, Registered Midwife, Diploma of Applied Science (Community Health and Maternal and Child Health), Bachelor of Applied Science (Advanced Nursing), Master of Educational Studies, Fellow of the College of Nursing Australia.

Theresa has worked in many roles within acute hospitals, residential care, community health, community case management, academia and management. Her colleagues have become her friends, and as she believes she never stops learning from others, she acknowledges the support and the sharing of knowledge she has received in every area she has worked.

Professional Reviews: