Good Example Of Evaluation Plan Case Study

According to Rosen and Reuben (2011), it is not sufficient to just procure a traditional medical assessment for the elderly patient population. It is also imperative to consider the influence that cognitive, social, functional and psychological issues have on their general health, especially when they have comorbidities (Rosen & Reuben, 2011). In this respect, the evaluation plan for Mr. Smith will entail the traditional medical assessment as well as the functional status of the patient. One of the tools that will be used in the evaluation of Mr. Smith is the traditional medical assessment as part of the geriatric assessment tools. Seeing that Mr. Smith presented for an annual physical examination, this tool is essential because it gives a holistic evaluation of the patient’s physical condition. Some of the elements of this assessment will include hearing impairment, urinary incontinence, visual impairment, polypharmacy and malnutrition or weight loss. For the benefit of Mr. Smith, it is important to include other professionals during the assessment. In this respect, the services of a nutritionist will be required in the assessment of the patient’s nutritional status. Other professionals are important for the cognitive, social, spiritual, psychological, economic and functional assessment of Mr. Smith. Additionally, this tool is important because it also evaluates the patient for gait disturbance (Rosen & Reuben, 2011), especially because I noticed abnormal gait when Mr. Smith walked in, and that he was using a walking stick. According to Flaherty and Resnick (2014), geriatric assessment is important for the elderly population because it entails various elements that relate to the health status of the elderly population. When performing geriatric assessments, issues such as missing limbs may present issues, especially when determining the influence of a missing limb or prosthesis on gait disturbance. Additionally, language barriers might impede geriatric assessment, especially where the elderly patients have poor diction.

References

Flaherty, E., & Resnick, B. (Eds.). (2014). Geriatric nursing review syllabus: A core curriculum in advanced practice geriatric nursing (4th ed.). New York, NY: American Geriatrics Society.
Rosen, S., & Reuben, D. (2011). Geriatric assessment tools. The Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine, New York, 78(4), 489–497.