85-year-old white female living alone in declining health.
As part of the first evaluation, compiling a comprehensive health history of the patient is a crucial element of effective treatment. Good communication skills correlate with higher patient satisfaction and outcomes (Hsieh & Lo, 2020). The necessity for therapeutic communication will guarantee that the client’s health history helps satisfy their needs (Ball, Dains, Flynn, Solomon, & Stewart, 2015). This discussion will focus on an 85-year-old Caucasian woman who lives alone and has deteriorating health. Age and environmental conditions will be the focus of the debate on health risks. These aspects are crucial to an individual’s health and facilitate an interviewer’s comprehension of the client’s health condition (Ball, Dains, Flynn, Solomon, & Stewart, 2015). Many therapeutic communication approaches might be employed to obtain meaningful health information from the client.
Techniques such as active listening, empathetic replies, guided questioning, attention to nonverbal signs, reassurance, and patient empowerment help construct a complete medical history. The first step is to prepare in advance for engaging in reflective thought and examining the patient’s clinical behavior and physical appearance (Howson, 2019). This will allow for the collection of nonverbal clues that are crucial to the health history. It is essential to welcome and greet the patient since it helps establish rapport, putting the patient at ease when providing health information. Particularly crucial is developing a shared knowledge of the client’s circumstances. As the patient is elderly and lives alone, the client will respond more positively if the interviewer listens attentively, asks guided questions, and is open to nonverbal communication (Howson, 2019).
To collect further information from the patient, we will use open-ended inquiries. Additionally, documentation is critical; consequently, the provided information would be correctly documented. The method is vital for putting the patient at ease and eliciting the health information necessary for better health care delivery. The patient, who is 85 years old, lives alone, and is in deteriorating health, is at risk for falls, stress, and sleep deprivation. The following are examples of questions that might facilitate the production of thorough health information:
1. Please state your complete name and age.
2. How would you define the state of your health since the commencement of the symptoms?
3. Have you ever been screened for diabetes or high blood pressure?
4. Have you ever visited any medical professionals? What was the primary complaint?
5. How would you define your present living situation’s safety and health risks?
Several risk assessment tools are built for various circumstances (Silverman, Kurtz & Draper, 2016). In this instance, the chosen tool would enhance the patient’s responses. The instrument contains five stages that must be followed sequentially. The first phase includes identifying potential health concerns and determining what and how they may be harmful. The next step would be risk assessment and preparation for potential safeguards. The findings would be documented, and an action plan would be developed and implemented. The evaluation would then be examined to verify its viability and updated as appropriate. This equipment’s actual value lies in its application’s simplicity and patient health monitoring (Silverman, Kurtz & Draper, 2016).
Communication is becoming recognized as a crucial skill set in the medical field. The quality of provider-patient communication substantially impacts client outcomes (Howson, 2019). Hence, the healthcare professional must examine the numerous therapeutic communication approaches to facilitate a thorough health history. Class, gender, ethnicity, and health literacy are mentioned as obstacles to efficient communication between physicians and their patients.
References
Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2019). Seidel’s guide to physical examination (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
Howson, A. (2019). Doctor-Patient Communication. Salem Press Encyclopedia
Hsieh, M.-C., & Lo, W.-L. (2020). Teaching communication skills: Using Gagne’s model as an illustration. Tzu Chi Medical Journal, 32(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_59_19
Silverman, J., Kurtz, S., & Draper, J. (2016). Skills for communicating with patients. CRC Press.
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85-year-old white female living alone in declining health. As part of the first
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