Aging, Dementia, and Disorders of Cognition

Older people can adapt to new physical problems. It is critical to use the processes of rehabilitation to train caregivers to bring out the best functional performance in the older people. The health care staff relating to the older people in a time of crisis need to prioritize creating a sense of safety, acceptance, and support based on the patients’ preferences. The specifics in this process include: Evaluating, data collecting, and making available to the handson caregivers what the patient likes —his or her preferences for all activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living. Create specific physical therapy functional goals that build on and reinforce patient preferences with regard to mobility, eating, bathing. Train teams with the older people to use specific neurofacilitation strategies to: (a) enhance breathing, (b) increase bed mobility, (c) improve balance in sitting and standing, (d) perform active range of motion and active assisted range of motion, (e) achieve skeletal weight shift for ADLs and IADLs, (f) encourage head, neck, and spine to upright postural response during ADLs and IADLs, and (g) encourage walking and stair climbing safely and as able. Screen for signs of reversible cognitive losses. Provide adaptations and training for performance of ADLs when chronic cognitive problems exist. Train caregivers and the older people in ways to adapt the ADLs and IADLs to maximize ability.

Aging, Dementia, and Disorders of Cognition Keywords:

Aging , Dementia , Disorders , Cognition