New approaches in the care of the elderly in clinical and community nursing
The International Summer school program offers a wonderful opportunity to study in the beautiful Southern Bohemia region of the Czech Republic. Experts dealing with senior population issues in cooperation with experienced academics and educators have prepared lectures, seminars, workshops, and excursions to enrich your knowledge and improve your skills in caring for the elderly. The main benefit of our study-stay program is its detailed look at the important task of managing health care, and quality of life needs relative to the patients’ actual health condition while at the same time trying to maximize self-dependency and self-sufficiency.
The courses provide a window into a normal aging process and introduce students to some of the main health challenges experienced by seniors, including dementia. Best practices for supporting senior health and wellbeing will be discussed by examining ethical considerations and the principals of personhood. The program also includes lectures, seminars, workshops, and mentored projects created by students, which will be presented at the end of the program.
The role of the nurse in all stages of eldercare is critically important. The summer school program will give students the opportunity to understand the unique needs of the elderly and the associated specialized care more deeply. The summer program focuses on the role of the nurse in providing eldercare throughout all the different stages of aging. In addition, students will experience, at least partially, how seniors feel in different situations using simulated situations.
Aim:
- increase awareness of the elderly as human beings and the specialized needs associated with providing eldercare.
- compare the experiences, knowledge, and practice of eldercare as it exists in a variety of different countries
- to familiarize yourself with the three-degree system as it relates to senior health care, self-dependency and self-sufficiency, and quality of life issues
- describe the main risks factors impacting the elderly population
- examine methods of risk prevention that can be applied to the elderly population
- practice new approaches and methods of communication with the elderly
Outcomes:
The students will gain experience in developing and using specialized communication skills that promote effective communication with the elderly in a variety of environments, such as their home and community, as well as in clinical environments.
Content of lectures:
COMMUNICATION AS A POWERFUL SKILL IN THE CARE FOR SENIORS
Marie Trešlová, Jana Maňhalová (the Czech Republic, abbr. CR)
The goal of the course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills specific to communicating with seniors. Students will discover the importance of effective communication with seniors not only when they feel well and are interested in social communication, but also in times when seniors are less well-off emotionally. Additionally, students will learn the principles of communication with individuals with impaired consciousness or suffering from dementia. The goal is for students to develop a deep appreciation for the power of effective communication as a significant nursing intervention in the care of seniors. This course will cover topics related to communication skills, listening and understanding seniors, changing perceptions, and nursing care for seniors.
ETHICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEMS OF SENIORS’ AGE
Ondřej Doskočil (CR)
The goal of the course is to provide students with an understanding of the ethical problems as they related to working with the elderly. Moreover, the course provides basic information about ethical and legal issues in connection with health and social care and offers a theoretical overview of ethics in health care focused on the elderly. The course also seeks to increase the awareness of the ethical aspects of healthcare decisions and provide theoretical support for solving ethical dilemmas. The course will cover topics related to eldercare, rights of seniors, and care of seniors from an ethical perspective.
ETHICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ELDERCARE
Marie Trešlová, Andrea Hudáčková (CR)
The goal of the course is to provide students with the knowledge of the ethical principles and the issues that have moral relevance for nurses caring for seniors in the Czech Republic. The course outlines the most common situations to which a nurse can be exposed during her work as well as ways to manage or handle these situations, e.g., abuse and neglect of seniors, isolation of seniors, issues related to death and dying, etc. The course teaches respect for ethical principles irrespective of the age of the person as they relate to the bio-psycho-social and spiritual needs of the elderly.
UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS OF SENIOR AGE
Jana Maňhalová, Lucie Rolantová (CR)
The aim of the seminar is to provide students with the knowledge needed to meet the needs of seniors as they related to the unique and distinctive issues associated with aging. Students will also learn about the nurse's role in monitoring and meeting the needs of a senior patient/client. The course will cover topics related to the bio-psycho-social needs of the elderly as well as topics related to Self-care Deficit Nursing Theory, also known as the D. E. Orem model of nursing.
WHAT DO YOU SEE NURSES?
Marie Trešlová, Andrea Hudáčková (CR)
The seminar is focused on understanding the importance of the life history of seniors in planning nursing care.
TRAUMATIC INJURIES IN SENIOR AGE
František Dolák, Andrea Hudáčková (CR)
The problem of accidents among the elderly is unique and its solution is different from other public health problems. Aging-related changes make the elderly more vulnerable to accidents as well as more fragile and easily injured by accidents. These injuries are typical to the elderly population, often with very characteristic features. Not only are the elderly much more prone to injury in connection with various comorbidities, but subsequent care of accident-related injuries is often long-term and have a major impact on the quality of life.
The most common causes of age-related accident injuries include falls, traffic accidents, and thermal injuries. The most common type of injuries are fractures, particularly of the neck of the femur, the bones in the forearms, and of vertebrae. This is followed by intracranial injuries, coma, hematomas and lacerations. The aim of the course is for students to become familiar with specific methods of caring for the elderly after an accident, including methods to prevent future accidents. The student will learn to assess the risks associated with various medical conditions and various environments, e.g., home, hospital, etc.
THE PROBLEMS OF A FALL IN SENIOR AGE
Hana Hajduchová, František Dolák (CR)
Education of the elderly and those that help care for them regarding fall prevention as well as what to do after a fall in a home environment. The aim of this seminar will be to practice specialized skills using simulated scenarios.
HEALTHY AND ACTIVE AGEING
Marie Trešlová, Lucie Rolantová (CR)
The goal of the workshop is to prepare activity plans that focus on the physical and mental state of senior patients/clients.
The course will cover topics related to the physical and mental health of the elderly as well as steps to remain physically and mentally active during the aging process.
MODERN TECHNOLOGIES IN ELDERCARE
Marie Trešlová, Jan Neugebauer (CR)
The main goal of this workshop will be to introduce students to advances in nursing practice for geriatric patients. Students will discuss modern methods used in their home countries, pointing to both the positive and negative aspects of the various methods. As part of modernization and digitization, the Czech Republic is examining ways to reduce the amount of paperwork and documentation as it relates to geriatric patients. It is also looking at increasing benefits for doctors, nursing staff, and patients. Additionally, it is looking at ways to retain staff at medical facilities, which might otherwise leave the field due to the high administrative burden.
ORGANIZATION OF SENIOR CARE
Alena Machová, Jitka Doležalová (CR)
During the workshop students will be acquainted with the various facilities that provide care for the elderly and the role of the nurse within these facilities. The workshop will examine all types of facilities that provide care for the elderly, including nursing homes (retirement homes). Students will also become familiar with the role of the nurse in each type of facility and the nurse’s role as part of the multidisciplinary teams that function in these facilities. The aim of the workshop will be to give students a comprehensive view of nursing as it relates to eldercare within various care facilities. As part of the workshop, students will participate in the theoretical design of different types of facilities that provide care to geriatric patients.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SENIOR
Marie Trešlová, Jitka Doležalová (CR)
The goal of the course is to provide students with information and experiences that help students feel what it is like to “be in the skin of a senior.” The course will cover topics related to sensory and physical limitations and how seniors perceive these limitations.
NURSING IN ELDERLY CARE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Jana Maňhalová, Jitka Doležalová
The main goal of this course is to familiarize students with the health system relative to geriatric nursing and the role of the nurse in caring for the geriatric population. Students will become familiar with nursing care in geriatrics and with the various institutions that provide eldercare. They will also become familiar with the role of insurance systems in the funding of eldercare. An emphasis will also be placed on examining nursing methods that are currently used and how those methods contribute to improving the quality of care provided to seniors.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND THE ONLINE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
Mark Small (USA)
Current trends in human trafficking are explored with a focus on online sexual exploitation of children. Victim/survivors of online sexual exploitation present clinical issues that are different from traditional victim/survivors of child abuse and neglect. Because of the unique nature of victimization that takes place in the online sexual exploitation of children, traditional social work prevention and treatment practices may need to be changed in order to be effective. Similarly, nurses and other health care workers should be made aware of signs of human trafficking in emergency departments and other health care settings.
The goal of the course is to provide students with knowledge on current trends in human trafficking with a focus on the online sexual exploitation of children. The course will cover topics related to social work and health care prevention and treatment approaches.
COMMUNITY WORK AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Eva Huszti (Hungary)
The goal of the course is to provide students with knowledge about the community work, community development in general and specifically in Hungary.
The course will cover topics related to the community work as a social work intervention method, community development as a process.
ALTERNATIVE CARE MODELS THAT SEEK TO RESPOND TO THE NEEDS OF ELDERS IN THE UNITED STATES
Kathleen L. Valentine (USA)
The goal of this course is to: Offer course participants the opportunity to examine the alternative care models that seek to respond to the needs of elders in the United States providing special attention to the topics of abuse and neglect and frailty.
SECURITY AND SAFETY OF SENIORS IN COMMUNITY CARE
Katalin Papp (Hungary)
Security – the word is derived from Latin securus, meaning freedom from anxiety: se (without) + cura (care, anxiety). Security is freedom from, or resilience to or protection against, potential harms.
Safety, the condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury.
In many countries, the size of aging population is increasing. How can we provide safe and secure life conditions for the elderly?
The state’s and local government’s goal is not only to provide the elderly with a minimum level of service, but to use all the tools at their disposal to ensure high quality of life and social security. The other goal is for the clients to stay in their own home as long as possible. For these goals a collaboration between care providers is very important.
During the summer school lecture these topics will be discussed, developed and practiced with the students. It will be an interactive presentation.
