Interdisciplinary Care Management Improve Physical Activities of Daily Living among Elderly

Abstract

Long-term care is an activity carried out by professionals to ensure that patients can maintain freedom and quality of life according to their wishes, the elderly who require long-term care tend to experience reduced limitations in their Physical Activity Daily Living (PADLs), this long-term care can be done by homecare-based, homecare services require interdisciplinary implementation or collaboration between health professions to provide comprehensive services. Objectives: This research purposes to determine the effect of interdisciplinary homecare management on PADLs of the elderly with long-term care service needs. Methods: a quasi-experimental design. Fifteen elderly who match long-term care criteria were included in this study; including elderly with hypertension, elderly with diabetic problems, and elderly with stroke. All respondents were received 3-months interdisciplinary focused on activity daily living. The interdisciplinary approach involved professionals from three fields: nursing, physiotherapy, and nutrition. All professionals participated in the daily need treatment process for 3 months; the education was provided twice a week for each caregiver via face-to-face interactions in the caregiver/patient’s house (home-based education). Wilcoxon test data analysis techniques were used. Results: The results of this study state that there is a significant influence of interdisciplinary home care PADLs for long-term care patients (p=0.001). Conclusion: The findings of this study support the effectiveness interdisciplinary homecare management program for elderly; Therefore, interdisciplinary homecare management is recommended in order to improve PADLs for elderly with long-term care needs. A subsequent investigation with homogeneous responders was suggested.