Treatment Concept
We provide comprehensive treatment and prioritize the special needs of our older patients. We focus not only on individual organ diseases but also on the consequences of the illness for daily life, independence, and quality of life.
An older person usually does not suffer from just one illness. Rather, there are often several pre-existing and co-existing conditions that also need to be treated. For this acute geriatric medical treatment, the full diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities of the Evangelical Hospitals Essen-Mitte are available to us.
Multiple illnesses often lead to functional impairments and limitations in daily life, such as gait instability, falls, weakness, and the need for assistance. Cognitive impairments can also occur. Through our geriatric assessment, which is a precise evaluation of the patient’s condition, we identify and assess these limitations as a basis for further treatment.
Recovery often takes more time for older people than for younger individuals. This is particularly true after severe internal or neurological illnesses or after surgery. Within the framework of early geriatric rehabilitation, our patients can regain their independence as much as possible.
Our team of therapists consists of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, psychologists, and nutrition therapists. Necessary aids are tested with patients already in the hospital and prescribed by us. From the beginning of inpatient admission, we jointly plan home care and further treatment after discharge from our clinic. For this purpose, our social service also contacts health insurance companies, the Medical Service, and outpatient or inpatient elderly care facilities.
Treatment Focus Areas
In our clinic, we treat, among others:
- Acute illnesses, e.g., stroke, heart diseases, pneumonia, bone fractures
- Gait and balance disorders, recurrent falls, dizziness
- Frailty in old age
- Decreased independence in daily life
- Memory impairments, dementia, depression, or anxiety disorders
- Acute confusion (delirium)
- Nutritional disorders (especially weight loss)
- Swallowing, speech, and language disorders (dysphagia)
- Acute and chronic pain
- Delayed recovery after operations or acute illnesses
Geriatric Assessment
In old age, symptoms and complaints of illnesses are often ambiguous and diverse. Through the so-called “Geriatric Assessment,” we individually and comprehensively test where impairments exist. This allows us to identify the personal need for support and to treat specifically. In the geriatric assessment, our staff examine the following areas (so-called multidimensional assessment):
- Geriatric screening
- Strength, balance, and endurance, tendency to fall
- Nutritional status and swallowing ability
- Self-care ability such as bathing/showering, dressing, climbing stairs, shopping, using the toilet
- Presence and severity of dementia and depression
- Medication
- intake, polypharmacy
- Pain conditions
- Need for social support
Acute Therapy
Diagnosis and therapy of all diseases in old age, also for patients requiring nursing care or intensive nursing care, or home patients, including through:
- Stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological diseases
- Bone fractures and their consequences, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis
- Heart, vascular, lung, and respiratory diseases
- Diabetes mellitus
- Acute infectious diseases, such as pneumonia
- Dementia, delirium, confusion
Geriatric Early Rehabilitation
A special treatment procedure in which, in addition to the diagnostic and therapeutic measures required for an acute illness, rehabilitation measures are carried out early. The so-called geriatric early rehabilitative complex treatment serves to mobilize and improve daily living skills, e.g., after operations or acute illnesses, and usually lasts 2 weeks.
