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Determinants of Health in Discharge Planning for Seniors: Asking the Right Questions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2013

Lisa J. MacNaughton-Doucet*
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University School of Nursing
*
Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to / La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Lisa J. MacNaughton-Doucet, R.N., M.N. Dalhousie University School of Nursing 55 Vancouver Street Yarmouth, NS B5A 2P5 (Lisa.doucet@dal.ca)

Abstract

Practitioners are encouraged to consider a shift in their philosophy regarding the manner in which interdisciplinary health care teams ask questions of seniors and their caregivers in the hospital discharge process. By engaging with a discharge framework that encompasses a social-determinants-of-health lens, discharge planning teams can begin to systematically ask questions that move beyond the traditional medical focus on prescriptions, rehabilitation, and treatments. This approach may reveal strengths and also expose health and social inequities that seniors might face upon their arrival home. This information may open a gateway for connecting seniors to social and economic resources that will support them in remaining productive and healthy.

Résumé

Les praticiens sont encouragés à envisager un changement de perspective philosophie sur la façon dont les équipes interdisciplinaires interrogent les personnes âgées et leurs soignants au cours du processus de la sortie de l’hôpital. Les équipes engagées dans le planification des congés de l’hôpital peuvent commencer systematiquement à poser des questions qui vont au-delà du mise au point médical traditionnel sur les prescriptions, la réhabilitation et les soins, s’ils sont engagés dans un cadre de la décharge englobant attention aux déterminants sociaux de la santé. Une telle approche pourrait révéler les points forts et aussi pourrait exposer les inégalités sanitaires et sociales que les aînés doivent confronter en arrivant chez eux. Cette information peut ouvrir une porte d’entrée reliant les personnes âgées aux ressources sociales et économiques qui les soutiennes afin qu’elles puissent rester en bonne santé et productives.

Type
Policy and Practice Note / Note de politique et practique
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2013 

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