clinical research assignment on Ages care facilities in Australia

Question

Task: How can clinical research assignment analysis strategies be used to assess aged care facilities in Australia while making improvement recommendations

Answer

Question 1: Aged care services and interdisciplinary care to maintain independence
Introduction
This clinical research assignment focuses on alalyzing aged care services in Australia. The aged care service of Australia helps the old people to enjoy a smooth everyday life by having quality accommodation, healthcare and daily chores. Identification of two senior care services and two interdisciplinary care services are made for the purpose of benefiting the individuals and also how hazards that are created by the effects of the adverse drug event can be minimized.

Identify TWO (2) aged care services.
On this clinical research assignment we observed there are multiple Aged care services across Australia and help the elderly residents to live their life without any pressure and adverse effects on the environment. According to the analysis, it can be said that the activities which are included in the aged care service are involved directly with mental health and wellbeing. The senior care representative needs to take the responsibility to take care of the old people to improve their health and wellbeing. As per the evaluation, it can be identified that two aged care services in Australia include Home care level 1 for basic needs and Home care level 3 for high-level home care needs packages for the elderly people. Senior care providers mainly support the older people to help them with taking everyday care of needs and requirements (Thompson et al. 2019). The home care packages are recognised subsidised programs organised by the Australian government to help the aged people in living their life. In addition, the government provides around 51,808.10 dollars a year in supporting the services related to aged care. The government also spends more funding on approved senior care providers such as Care Connect, which is a recognised care provider expert across Australia. Both home care packages are significant for the elderly people who are suffering from diabetes, dementia and other diseases.

Identify TWO (2) interdisciplinary referrals
The interdisciplinary approach used on this clinical research assignment primarily involves the team members from the different disciplines working in collaboration regarding achieving a common target and also making effective decisions through sharing the resources and responsibilities. The team related to the various fields make the collaboration with the patient to undertake the assessment, diagnosis and intervention with goal setting and also establish a care plan for the wellbeing of the patient. The interdisciplinary approach can be effective in improving patient outcomes and other healthcare processes. In addition to this, it can be said that the level of satisfaction can be increased through implementing interdisciplinary referrals. The interdisciplinary referrals can be the cardiologist and Neurologist who can collaborate to improve the health care process for the patients (Farrell et al.2020). In addition to this, the collaboration can help to diagnose the diseases of the Patient, Ms Florence 'Flo' Ljukuta. Apart from this, the interdisciplinary approach can be effective in working together to enhance patients' health and wellbeing. In addition, this approach can help to reduce the risk-averse through implementing specific care plans for aged people.

Detail the goal or purpose of each of these services
Older people find it hard to do their own work and live independent life. Instead, they need someone to assist with their work. On this clinical research assignment we also observed that aged care service and interdisciplinary care service firstly share a helping hand to do the everyday work and personal care and also makes their life meaningful by making them culturally, socially active and living a healthy life. Clegg A, Frailty for elderly people, Deloitte Access, Comprehensive geriatric assessment, Centre for applied Gerontology, mm and many more offers effortless service and prevents the adverse effect with their advance care planning.

Home care level 1 for basic needs
The home care level 1 is considered the essential aged care practice that is designed to support the basic level needs related to the senior care. The initial level of care primarily includes everyday tasks (Health.gov.au, 2022). On this clinical research assignment level 1 home care package consists of the functions which have been identified below

Providing the personal care
Assistance with the domestic works
Providing the social support
Preparation of meal
Shopping and transport

The Australian government pays a different amount for the aged care packages; however, the patients need to pay a certain amount to the specific care provider.

Home care level 3 for high-level home care needs
Home care level 3 packages are primarily designed to support the people who have intermediate levels of needs and care. The Australian government plays an essential role in availing the aged care packages for maintaining the health and wellbeing of elderly people (Health.gov.au, 2022). The home care level 3 package includes

Personal care range
Assistance in household and domestic works
Assistance with the appliances
Medication management
Social support
Preparation of meal
Allied health support

Home Care Level 1 and 2 needs an annual package of 9,000 dollars and 15,750 dollars simultaneously, and they help the elderly people to keep their room neat and tidy, dress, shop, transport and meals, and as the level increases, the rate also increases with specialisation of help.

Clinical research assignment rationale
Home Care Level 1 and 3 provide a skilled team of practitioners, nurses and physicians so that the patients can remain at home in favourable condition and avoid the deary hospitalisation and offers more than 8,090 home health care agencies. Though there is less physical contact than in hospitals yet the services are reliable as they have to do lots of paperwork; moreover, the home atmosphere and environment play a positive effect and moral support assigning a greater degree of safety from contagious disease (Tokhi et al. 2018). If the patients are able to carry on their work with a bit of assistance, these health care units at home can solve a greater purpose, but in case of emergency and severe patient, hospitalisation becomes essential. However, an interdisciplinary package can overrule these and challenge this problem with a unique communication as the physicians are always provided feedback via phone calls, video calls and even on visits when required.

Explain how each service relates to Flo’s presentation
Two aged care services are directly related to the presentation of Florence Flo as per the case study. In this current stage, Ms Florence Flo needs a specialised senior care service to cure her diseases of dementia and diabetic foot wounds. The home care level 1 package can be less effective for the presentation because the patient needs better care to improve her health and wellbeing (Tokhi et al.2018). The teamwork of the doctors, nurses, and therapists works hand in hand to find out the need of the patient for quick relief. Specialist doctors in several fields like medicine, cardiology, oncology, endocrinology, dermatology etc., set up their own goals for a good recovery of the patient prior to the application or complaint. Errors like misdiagnoses or inappropriate medicine are minimised, and the treatment becomes improved and faster. However, it can be said that the home care level 3 package is significant for this patient for providing better care and service. This will help in maintaining a relationship over far distances considering how the two patients are old and have no one to take care of. Explain the impact Flo's geographical location may have on accessing these services and interdisciplinary referrals It is important understand how geography may affect the health status of an individual through less tangible effect or the environment. In addition to the points discussed on the above clinical research assignment, it can also be stated how Flo’s geographical location might make it difficult for him have access to different healthcare services and interdisciplinary referrals.

Question 2: Medication management
Identify and describe three (3) factors in the case study which increase the risk of an adverse drug event.
Extremes of age- It is essential to understand how the extremes of age are the leading cause of the adverse impact of a drug. In this case, it can be recognised that the period is over 70, which is pretty extreme in the case of a person having to deal with a severe drug overdose (Ouslander & Grabowski, 2020).
Past history of allergy- Florence has a past history of an infection that has not yet been treated in a systematic way for three months by a medical associate or staff. The reason behind this is the fact that Flo kept on treating it by himself by dressing it at his home without expert supervision.
Gender- It can be recognised that gender is another reason in the case study for being a factor for increasing the risk of an adverse drug event. The reason behind this statement is that Florence is a female, and females have a tendency to be more prone to ADRs as compared to men.

Choose TWO (2) medications and describe
Two significant medications categories include General sales lists along with the pharmacy medicines categories. The GSL medicines have legal restrictions and include paracetamol, cold and flu remedies and vitamin supplements. On the other hand the pharmacy medicines include mild sleeping tablets and stronger antihistamines.

1. What is the indication for each medication
The indication related to a drug primarily refers to the application of that drug for treating the specific disease. As an example, it can be noticed that diabetes is an indication of insulin. In addition, an expression is a valid reason for using a specific test, medication and other procedures and surgery. On the other hand, multiple indications can be used to identify the method of drugs in the health care service (Hanlon et al.2018). The introductory presentation can be referred to as the initial disease indication for which the medicine can be targeted. The two selected medications are osteo paracetamol and Aspirin 100 mg which are provided to Flo for reducing her pain.

2. Any potential complications that Flo may experience while taking this medication
Flo has been suffering from foot pain for 3 months, and currently, she undergoes immense pain in her foot due to diabetes. She had not seen the doctor because she had assumed that it was a minor wound. However, as per the recent data related to this patient, it has been observed that she is suffering from hypertension, type 2 diabetes along with angina, hypercholesterolemia and Osteoarthritis. Two medications that have been selected through the case study are osteo paracetamol and Aspirin which can potentially impact on the health and wellbeing of Flo. However, potential complications can arise due to the specific medicines related to pain reduction. She has asthma; therefore, an increased rate of painkillers can directly impact her heart and respiratory system. Consequently, it can be said that the health care providers need to diagnose the patient and provide appropriate medication which can improve her health conditions without any complications. In the clinical research assignment case involving severe patients needing constant monitoring and ventilation, a home care unit is not always fruitful because the physicians are not in close proximity to the patients, and the costly monitors and equipment are also not affordable in a home setup (Henry et al. 2020).

Two (2) nursing actions or health promotions you would implement to minimize adverse drug events.
Screening can be referred to as a method that a nurse can use in order to minimise the adverse effects of drug events. This will be done by determining the actual level of the impact of the drug and focusing on how the level can be normalised with appropriate medication and immediate treatments (Health.vic.gov.au, 2017). With improved information technology and the use of modern instruments, the health service can have a unique effect, and research work has proved that these healthcare services gain maximum satisfaction and greater lifespan for the patients. Early identification is another way of preventing certain factors that might give rise to the adverse effects of drugs in elderly people like Florence and Lionel. Generally, the older folk follow medications from three or four prescriptions with a wide range of medicines throughout the day, and some of these might be an overdose or even have medication errors (Gray et al.2018).

Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above discussion that Florence and Lionel must be able to look after themselves by focusing on their diet in an effective and systematic way. This will help them to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Their underweight is a significant concern on this clinical research assignment that they must look after and take proper medications in order to get back to their good health.

References
Farrell, B., Conklin, J., Dolovich, L., Irving, H., Maclure, M., McCarthy, L. & Thompson, W. (2019). Deprescribing guidelines: An international symposium on development, implementation, research and health professional education.
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Gray, S.L., Hart, L.A., Perera, S., Semla, T.P., Schmader, K.E. & Hanlon, J.T., (2018). Metaanalysis of interventions to reduce adverse drug reactions in older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 66(2), pp.282-288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2020.04.006
Hanlon, P., Nicholl, B.I., Jani, B.D., McQueenie, R., Lee, D., Gallacher, K.I. & Mair, F.S., (2018). Examining patterns of multimorbidity, polypharmacy and risk of adverse drug reactions in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cross-sectional UK Biobank study. BMJ open, 8(1), 18404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2020.03.010
Health.gov.au, (2022). User Guide: Aged Care Assessment Team Guidance Framework for Home Care Package Level. Retrieved from: https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/
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Henry, S., Buchan, K., Filannino, M., Stubbs, A. & Uzuner, O., (2020). 2018 n2c2 shared task on adverse drug events and medication extraction in electronic health records. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 27(1), .3-12. https://doi.org/10.4103/apjon.apjon_6_18
Ouslander, J.G. & Grabowski, D.C., (2020). COVID19 in nursing homes: calming the perfect storm. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, clinical research assignment 68(10), .2153-2162.
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