Psychogeriatric Unit
PSYCHOGERIATRIC UNIT
The Psychogeriatrics Unit was created in 2011. It has 20 beds and its main objective is to care for geriatric patients with behavioural alterations associated with dementia or conditioned by intercurrent processes of clinical destabilisation.
Occasionally and on a case-by-case basis, geriatric patients with decompensated psychiatric pathology (depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, late-onset psychosis) are seen who, due to their characteristics (age, fragility, comorbidity) benefit more from care in a psychogeriatric unit than in psychiatry.
Nursing work in psychogeriatrics focuses on the detection of behavioural symptoms and symptoms of physical pathologies that may lead to decompensation in the disease. We will study the management of this behaviour based on knowledge of the person and their life history in order to create a behavioural management strategy.
During the hospital stay, we work to maintain daily routines, encourage autonomy in self-care and empower the caregiver (both in the care of the person with dementia and in the non-pharmacological management of the behavioural disorders that have led to admission).
Occupational therapy in psychogeriatrics is aimed at fostering those residual capacities existing at the time of hospital admission and the recovery of those capacities recently lost due to an acute process. The aim is to create routines that help to control the symptoms for which the patient is admitted, as well as to strengthen existing abilities and empower the main caregiver. At the same time, they will help to maintain autonomy and social roles.
From the moment the patient is admitted to the Psychogeriatric Unit, the aim is to try to transmit security to relatives and patients during their stay, taking care of the basic needs of each one, in order to achieve maximum recovery in ADLs, clinical stability and social integration.
The aim of social work in the Psychogeriatric Unit is to maintain direct contact with the patient's family in order to offer them information, advice and guidance on the different resources available to them, as well as the administrative procedures to be carried out in each case.
Coordination with the different social workers of the institutions: Basic Social Services, Provincial Council, Gerontological Centres.
The Unit has a multidisciplinary team, among which the following stand out:
- Geriatrician.
- Referral Nurse and Nursing Team.
- Occupational Therapist.
- Auxiliary.
- Social worker.
Unit objectives
- To achieve clinical stabilisation and control of behavioural symptoms.
- To preserve as much autonomy as possible, guided by the Occupational Therapy team and assistants.
- Inform relatives and carers about the natural evolution of the disease and leave general recommendations on non-pharmacological management.
- Neuropsychological assessment to better guide the diagnosis of cognitive impairment.
- Guidance on available social resources, support in their processing in coordination with the basic social services for adequate social support upon discharge.
- Facilitating appropriate health care and follow-up upon discharge of the patient.
- Training of specialists in Geriatrics, Psychiatry and Family Medicine (MIR).
Contact:
Head of Psychogeriatrics: Kevin O’Hara.
kevin.ohara@matiafundazioa.eus
Tel: 943 31 71 00