Care models for older people based on a case study-Geriatrics as an active discipline

Abstract

Geriatrics can enable and monitor aholistic care of older people through acomprehensive geriatric assessment in a structured way. Therefore, it must be integrated much more closely with preventive, rehabilitative and acute care units. Geriatrics are not seen in any aspects as areplacement for general practitioners or in-hospital structures but much more as asupplement to them. With its function-oriented concept, geriatrics can best coordinate the demographically necessary triage between prevention, acute treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care, thus avoiding undertreatment and overtreatment. This can only succeed in collaboration with general practitioners and specialist colleagues. The article categorizes geriatric care structures, such as preventive home visits, acute complex medical treatment, delirium prevention, outpatient and inpatient rehabilitation services based on acase example and makes proposals for structural changes that urgently need to be considered in the current healthcare reform, such as outpatient geriatric centers (AGZ).