Roles of Multidisciplinary Teams for Chronic Patients - Assignment Example

? Roles of Multidisciplinary Teams for Chronic Patients Roles of Multidisciplinary Teams for Chronic Patients Introduction The definition of the of the term chronic illness have very many aspects considered in it. This is with regard to the time span and possibly the mode of acquisition of the illness. Any illness that takes a period of more than three months is considered chronic in the medical field. The other aspect of chronic illness is that they are not contagious and therefore it can not be contracted through infection. Most of the chronic illness is developed through lifestyle which in this case encompasses the type of food one consumes, the nature of life one is going through, is it sedentary or active lifestyle and many other considerations which can bring about chronic illness (Royer, 1998). In respect to this, it is important that it is known that most of the chronic infections are hereditary while other are dependant on the nature of life for example smoking. They can only be treated since cure is not possible. Chronic diseases cut across the board in what is referred to as A to Z. there are numerous categories of chronic diseases starting from Arthritis, Alzheimer's to zoonoses chronic illness that are passed from animals to human, avian flu is an example (Brighton, 2005). Of recent obesity has also added onto the long list of the chronic diseases. The cost of maintaining life in the presence of the chronic illness is seriously expensive and inmost case if one can not afford the cost then they simply succumb. For example in diabetes, there is need to inject insulin on a daily basis for those with the acute form (Brighton, 2005). Since most of the chronic illness cannot be completely be cured, there is extensive support from the health care providers such that the patient are given the orientation on how to manage some errands on their own. Before leaving the hospital the patient are given the basics of their condition and how to manage the conditions in the absence of the doctor (Larsen, Pamala, and Ilene, 2009). Cases of chronic illness can most likely lead to the disillusionment of the patient in taking care of themselves, this is because of the constantly recurring illness condition that requires very close monitoring and any complacency may be lethal to ones life. This make the patient to have the feeling that they are not able to enjoy life and get to be depressed and can developed great sense of trauma. In this case the patients require psychological therapies (Lubkin, Ilene, and Pamala, 1988). The trauma that is experienced by the patients can be horizontally be transferred to the heath care givers and even to the close family members in what is referred to as compassion fatigue or burnout. Compassion fatigue is defined as the cost of providing care to the patients as one tends to empathize with them to the extent that they themselves get affected (Ackley, & Ladwig, 2010). In the contemporary society, one of the most worrying chronic infection is the oncology cases, the development of cancerous cases is on the rife and this is attributed to the lifestyle that majority of the peoples have opted for. For this purpose, the prevalence and incidence of the cases of chronic infections will be considered. Prevalence of a disease consider finding the rate at which the disease spreads while in incidence, we do considers a snapshot number of the individuals who are victims as at a specific time (Funk, 2001). Characteristics of chronic diseases Chronic diseases have many factors in common; most of the chronic diseases are brought about by the lifestyle led by the individual. The emergence of these illnesses are solely brought by the nature of the life they opt for, for instance, in the over consumption of alcohol is known to overwork the pancreases and this impairs the performance of the pancreas and may not be in a position of secreting the necessary hormones that are required for the regulation of some important factors like the control of the sugar level in blood. Failure to control the sugar level leads to the development and occurrence of diabetes. Chronic diseases are also known to be taking relatively long time to develop and their effects may not be detrimental in the shortest time. This explains why most of the chronic illnesses are diagnosed when they have reached advanced stages. Prevalence of the chronic illness In the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the most known chronic diseases are diabetes mellitus, coronary artery diseases, obesity, and systematic hypertension. Of these chronic illnesses obesity is the leading illness with a prevalence rate of about 40%. The essence of obesity is increased body mass that is brought about by the excessive accumulation of fats in the body (Funk, 2001). In this sense it is said that the rate at which fats accumulates in the body is higher than the rate at which they are utilized in the body. The study by the World heath Organization, (WHO) indicated that the prevalence of the obesity in Saudi Arabia is necessitated by the consumption of junk foods, leading a sedentary life and poor eating diet (Ruhm, 2007). The menace of obesity in Saudi is real and the youthful population is the worst hit (Miller, 2000). Obesity can be gauged by calculating the BMI and the calculations are considered as shown as; the BMI that is lower than 18.5 is considered underweight, that of 18.5-24.9 is considered normal weight. That which is between 25.0-29.9 is considered overweight. A BMI of 30.0-39.9 is the beginning of obesity while a BMI of 40.0 and above extremely obese (Albritton, 2009). The reduction of obesity is considered one of the major improvement in the public health sector s it will lead to healthier life which in turn will reduce the amount of money spent in the management of heath issues (Schatman, 2007). Public health awareness is considered the best way of reducing through campaigns the effect causes of obesity and how to control the effects of obesity (World Health Organization, 2000). This statistics can be compared internationally with other nations to compare the statistics. In this case, the obesity in the KSA was compared to that of the US. The prevalence of the obesity in the US according to the states are stipulated as shown below. % State % State % State % 32.2 Illinois 28.2 Montana 23.0 Rhode Island 25.5 24.5 Indiana 29.6 Nebraska 26.9 South Carolina 31.5 24.3 Iowa 28.4 Nevada 22.4 South Dakota 27.3 30.1 Kansas 29.4 New Hampshire 25.0 Tennessee 30.8 24.0 Kentucky 31.3 New Jersey 23.8 Texas 31.0 21.0 Louisiana 31.0 New Mexico 25.1 Utah 22.5 22.5 Maine 26.8 New York 23.9 Vermont 23.2 28.0 Maryland 27.1 North Carolina 27.8 Virginia 26.0 22.2 Massachusetts 23.0 North Dakota 27.2 Washington 25.5 26.6 Michigan 30.9 Ohio 29.2 West Virginia 32.5 29.6 Minnesota 24.8 Oklahoma 30.4 Wisconsin 26.3 22.7 Mississippi 34.0 Oregon 26.8 Wyoming 25.1 26.5 Missouri 30.5 Pennsylvania 28.6     (Oliver, 2006) The obesity in children was also categorized between the years 1963-2004 and the ages classified according into three groups as shown below. Age (years)1 1963-65 1966-702 1971-74 1976-80 1988-94 1999-2000 2001-02 2003-04 2-5 - 5% 5% 7.2% 10.3% 10.6% 13.9% 6-11 4.2% 4% 6.5% 11.3% 15.1% 16.3% 18.8% 12-19 4.6% 6.1% 5% 10.5% 14.8% 16.7% 17.4% (Barbour, 2011) From the data shown above, it can be construed that the effect of obesity is having atoll in almost half of the two countries considered. In respect to this, there are other chronic conditions in which the population remains vulnerable to, for example diabetes, high bold pressure and hypertension (WHO, 2000). Obesity is thus a precursor of other chronic conditions and therefore it is the central point to which other illness can be acquired and therefore calls for more attention to mitigate on (Barbour, 2011). Impact of Chronic Illness on the Quality of Life Chronic illness is known for its depressive nature. Most of the patient with chronic illness gets to be disillusioned in life as they perceive themselves unfortunate amidst other people. In most cases, these people do have a completely contradictory life from the one they were leading previously. They tend to have a more restricted life i.e. sedentary life without mobility (Chang, Esther, and Amanda, 2008). Coupled with the fact that these people incur a lot of expenses in their medical attention which is continuous the casualties tend to have a psychological problem. The aspect of expenditure also brings with it some degree of stress. Chronic disease is known for their devastating nature, this knowledge in itself makes the victims to have several reflection of their situation vis a vis others who have had the same condition and evaluate their own (White, and, Chanoff, 2011). In the event that most of the people have ended up succumbing to the illness, the patients tend to lose hope in their fight for life and the psychological deviation can only negatively impact on the patient and subsequently aggravate their condition (Ackley, and Gai, 2010). Roles of multidisciplinary Discharge planning is characterized by interaction of many professionals who brings the knowledge of their area of expertise in making the discharge of the patient. Nurses for instance use a prescribed protocol to administer to the patient the treatment and provide the necessary comfort and care to the patient. The pharmacist in this regard will be prescribing the drugs to be given to the patient so that they can take the optimize dose that is relevant to them provided the condition of the patient. The presence of the pharmacist is essential in the precise prescription. The social workers are useful in the process of ensuring that the continuity of the care provided to the patient do not cease and they also mobilize resources to the patient after the discharge. The social workers are also important in ensuring that the drugs reaches the targeted groups on time and that referrals are made timely. Dietitian on the other hand will be giving the right food to consume as well as ensuring the quantity and quality are of the required standards for the patients For instance let us consider the oncology patient; most of the oncology patients have been known to succumb. In the hospitals they develop traumatic experience and this can be horizontally be transferred to the people around the patient most of the time, preferably the nurses or the relatives. The kind of the emotional response transfer in this case is known as compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue can at times be used interchangeably with burnout (Potter, Patricia, and Anne, 2009). The term is used to mean acquisition of psychological disorder as a result of caring for other patients. This happens because these people are in constant touch with the patient and will observe them in their despair state, and at times others dying. This experience brings about emotional and psychological changes in an individual who equally ends up in a very traumatic situation. Discharge Planning Patient with chronic diseases have to be admitted in hospitals in the event that the condition turned acute or that a heavy bout was realized. Once the condition is taken care of, the patient is discharged from the hospital upon ascertaining that they can administer the basic steps of managing their conditions (Hare, 1988). This is because in the chronic illness, the conditions persist and the patient can not be hospitalized for as long as the conditions persist. There are other basic bits that he patient or the family members can be trained on so that the provision of the services can continue else where at home without the need to be further hospitalized (Falvo, 2005). Importance of the Discharge Planning Discharge planning is an exercise that starts when the patient is admitted into the hospital; it is executed to ensure that the relevant care and clinical provisions are extended to the patient even in the post hospital care. Discharge planning also enables the hospital to plan for the visits of the patient to monitor their progress and give necessary support where necessary. The plan also gives the hospital a chance to identify the right persons to take care of the patient away from the hospital. Generally6 the importance of discharge planning is to provide stringent care for the patient leaving the hospital so that they can continue to acquire all the services and the necessary care that is needed for quick recovery. A vivid example is the administration of insulin injection after the initial effort to manage stabilize the sugar level, it is a process that can be done by the patient once they resume normalcy. In this case the discharge plan comes in handy. Before the patient is discharged a serious discharge plan is executed to ensure that the patient do not experience re-admission due to improper procedural matters (Melnyk, Bernadette, and Ellen, 2011). It is the responsibility of the hospital management to ensure that the discharge meets all the requirements before a final go ahead is warranted. Discharge planning is multidisciplinary action that requires a multidisciplinary team to make a sound decision on. A multidisciplinary team is a collection of specialized persons who are engaged in assessing the condition of a situation of which in this case it is the patient. This is to help to make informed decision as to whether a patient should be allowed to leave the hospital care for other forms of care preferably administered by the patients themselves or the relatives (Rorden, Judith, and Elizabeth, 1990). This is decision reached after considerable rehabilitation is done. Rehabilitation is the processes of helping others achieve optimum quality life after damage due to infection or illness (Kozier, 2004). All this are done to allow the patient be able to administer self care management-this is a cognitive learning process in which the patient are taken through the process of being able to identify the symptoms and at the same time linking the symptoms to their immediate remedy (Babich, and Lind, 1991). It is important for patients who are to be left for administering self care more so on chronic diseases. Conclusion Before the patient is discharged from the hospital, there are factors that have to be considered to ensure that safety of the patient is assured. In this sense, the hospital management has the obligation to ensure that the patient is headed to a safe place and that proper care with regard to there condition. A decision has to be made on the type of the assistance, equipments and care that should be advanced to the patient (McKeehan, 1981). There are suppose to be plans to conduct visits for the purpose of ensuring that the patient has and is provided with the best care to allow further improvement. With this regard, the management should endeavor to make appointments with some officers who will be taking on the visits. The management of the hospital is also obliged to make and determine the caregivers at home and this is to establish confidence on the safety of the patient (Barton, 2008). References Ackley, Betty J., and Gail B. Ladwig. Nursing diagnosis handbook: an evidence-based guide to planning care. 9th ed. Maryland Heights, Mo.: Mosby, 2010. Albritton, Robert. Let them eat junk: how capitalism creates hunger and obesity. London: Pluto Press ;, 2009. Babich, Karen S., and Linda Brown. Discharge planning: a manual for psychiatric nurses. Thorofare, N.J.: SLACK Inc., 1991. Barbour, Scott. Obesity. farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Brighton, David. 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Saunders, 1990. Royer, Ariela. Life with chronic illness: social and psychological dimensions. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1998. Ruhm, Christopher J.. Current and future prevalence of obesity and severe obesity in the United States. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2007. Schatman, Michael E.. Ethical Issues in Chronic Pain Management. Hoboken: Informa Healthcare, 2007. Ackley, B. J., & Ladwig, G. B. (2010). Nursing diagnosis handbook: an evidence-based guide to planning care (9th ed.). Maryland Heights, Mo.: Mosby. Barton, I. K. (2008). Burnout in physical therapists working in long term care/skilled nursing facilities in the state of Wisconsin. New York, N.Y.: Wiley. White, A. A., & Chanoff, D. (2011). Seeing patients: unconscious bias in health care. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Top of Form Bottom of Form Read More