Elder-Friendly Hospitals:
Meeting the Special Needs of the Older Patient

Agnes is 83 years old and has been a widow for the last five years. She has seven grandchildren and just became the proud great-grandmother of twin girls. With a bit of help from her family, Agnes does quite well living by herself in the same house where she raised her family. Today, she is leaving her home for a scheduled operation at the nearby hospital. She expects to stay two or three days for recovery before she returns home, still with plenty of time to get the house ready for the card party planned with her friends for next Friday afternoon.

However, Agnes won’t ever host that card party again. Her surgery will go very well, but in the days that follow, her condition will steadily deteriorate. She will lose weight, become disoriented and incontinent, develop a terrible pressure ulcer and start to believe that the family members visiting her are aliens who want to abduct her. She will soon find herself in a nursing home, wearing diapers, no longer able to walk or feed herself. And, unfortunately, Agnes will be dead in nine months.

But Agnes’ decline can be prevented.

The hazards of hospitalization for the elderly are known—and avoidable. There are effective models of care that strategically address the special inpatient needs of the elderly. Specific architectural interventions are known to create an enabling, supportive environment for the elderly patient. Better care and a better setting for that care work together to improve outcomes and preserve the quality of life for elderly patients.

In this information-packed, 60-minute presentation, you will first hear from geriatrician Dr. Edgar Pierluissi. He will provide an overview of the physiology and psychology of the elderly patient and demonstrate how those characteristics can interact negatively with the hospital environment. He will conclude with a review of effective care strategies that mitigate the hazards of hospitalization and preserve a patient’s abilities.

Building on that knowledge, Larry Bongort will then take you through a series of specific architectural features that can transform healthcare settings into positive, enabling environments for both inpatients and outpatients.Finally, you will be provided with a series of useful tools and resources you will be able to apply immediately to your projects.

Learning Objectives:

• How does the normal aging process make the elderly patient different?
• What common features of the typical hospital environment create hazards for older patients?
• Which models of inpatient care for the elderly have demonstrated improved outcomes?
• How can a hospital be designed to protect elderly patients and support the effective provision of care?
• What tools and resources are available to architects and interior designers who what to make their projects elder-friendly?

Presented by:

Larry Bongort, AIA, ACHA, ASHE, EDAC
Senior Healthcare Architect
Ratcliff

Larry has over 30 years of experience as an architect, with a focus on the planning and design of facilities for healthcare and for the elderly. He approaches his work with an emphasis on the integration of the spatial, operational, functional and technological requirements of each project into patient-centered solutions that support the safe delivery of excellent patient care in lean, cost-effective, staff-supportive environments.

Edgar Pierluissi, MD
Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California San Francisco
Medical Director, Acute Care for Elders Unit, San Francisco General Hospital

Dr. Pierluissi is a geriatrician and a professor at the University of California San Francisco’s School of Medicine. He is passionate about providing an optimum hospital experience for his patients at San Francisco General Hospital and uses a patient-centered, interdisciplinary approach to enhance their safety and improve their outcomes. He is a member of the American College of Physicians, the Society for General Internal Medicine and the American Geriatrics Society.

Continuing Education:

• This program meets the requirements for CHFM and CHSP Continuing Education Credits.

Who Would Benefit from this Program:

• Facility Managers
• Facility Directors
• Architects
• Designers

Why a WTC Audio Conference Is Right For You:

• Fast, convenient learning without any out-of-office time lost.
• No travel-related expenses or complications.
• The perfect way to train as many employees as you like.
• 100% Guarantee: If you are dissatisfied, you are entitled to a complete refund.

Product Options:

Audio Conference Formats Explained

• Audio Conference CD Only: $109.00 (includes S&H)

Length: 1 hour 30 minutes