Working with the Elderly

Working with the Elderly

Psychosocial Interventions as the Primary Approach to Treatment with Elderly

In their post-retirement ages, adults may suffer from mental disorders. Psychosocial interventions are better when it comes to the treatment of the elderly, compared to pharmacological approaches. While pharmacological approaches may be hectic to administer to older people, psychosocial approaches are comfortable, and most older adults prefer them. To solve the issues of anxiety, dementia, personality disorders, among other illnesses, conducting psychotherapy is more effective than pharmacological approaches. Psychosocial interventions allow older adults to have close contact with clinicians, giving them a sense of belonging (Bergman et al., 2019). Although pharmacological approaches may solve these issues, psychosocial interventions make the older adults feel loved and worthwhile. The feeling of love improves the entire health and well-being of older adults. Moreover, the interventions lead to a better relationship between older adults and others. .

Primary Ethical issues when working with Elderly Clients

Confidentiality is essential when dealing with older people. It is important to keep secrets and avoid disclosing critical information to the older adult’s family as well as other health professionals. Informed consent is also an important consideration. Every clinician should ensure older adults understand the common forms of approval. Besides, clinicians should give the elderly to make their own decisions regarding options of treatment. Competence is another major ethical issue. Clinicians ought to have enough knowledge when dealing with the elderly (Vandemeulebroucke et al., 2019). The clinicians acquire such knowledge from either training or following instructions and guidelines. Multiple relationships are another crucial consideration. Often, older clients face mobility difficulties, forcing clinicians to visit their homes for treatment. In such cases, conflicts may occur when the clinician sent to take care of the bolder adult fails to adhere to the client’s treatment choices. The clinician is therefore required to understand the options that the clients prefer before offering any treatment.

References

Bergman, B. G., Fallah-Sohy, N., Hoffman, L. A., & Kelly, J. F. (2019). Psychosocial Approaches in the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorders. In Treating Opioid Addiction (pp. 109-138). Humana, Cham.

Vandemeulebroucke, T., Dierckx de Casterlé, B., Welbergen, L., Massart, M., & Gastmans, C. (2019). The ethics of socially assistive robots in aged care. A focus group study with older adults in Flanders, Belgium. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B.