The Home Geriatric Care Unit of the Insular Hospital of Lanzarote has reinforced its activity during the pandemic. According to the Ministry of Health, in the first half of the year it has carried out 474 consultations at home and in 2020, when the most difficult moments due to Covid that forced confinement were experienced, it exceeded 416 consultations.
The professionals of this health team, made up of three geriatricians and a geriatric nurse, provide coverage to chronic patients from Lanzarote and La Graciosa who, due to their immobility, isolation, cognitive, behavioral or other alterations, have difficulties accessing the external Geriatrics consultations of the Insular Hospital.
The program is designed to provide continuous care to these complex patients and as a complement to Primary Care, to support family doctors and family and liaison nurses.
According to details from the Ministry of Health, the average age of the patients of this service is over 80 years and most of them have severe cognitive impairment, frailty and advanced dependence, as well as multiple pathologies. The team's interventions focus on socio-health coordination. In fact, they hold monthly meetings with social workers, family orientation, the development of individualized care plans and the control of polypharmacy. In addition, the geriatricians of the Unit are the ones who determine the rehabilitation, treatment and prevention of geriatric syndromes.
Likewise, during all this time in which the elderly have become one of the most vulnerable groups, the Home Geriatric Care team has provided support to all nursing homes on the island, has met periodically with their professionals to assess the most complex patients and has made the figure of the liaison geriatrician available to all Lanzarote residential centers. 36 percent of the consultations they have carried out were of a preferential nature, compared to 64 percent that were carried out following the agenda.
This Unit was launched at the end of 2018 to provide coverage to complex geriatric patients with difficulties in traveling to consultations and for whom the best option is home care. Supported by the Management of Health Services of Lanzarote and in coordination with Primary Care and Liaison Nursing, it has reinforced its activity during the pandemic caused by COVID-19 and has incorporated a nurse specializing in Geriatrics into the team.
According to the medical director of the Insular Hospital, Domingo de Guzmán, “the objective of this program is to avoid unnecessary trips to the emergency room, reduce avoidable admissions and contribute to the care of these people in the closest family environment”. It is also about opening the Geriatrics service to work in the community, and thus support the work of Primary Care professionals.
