HMC offers integrated care services for elderly patients
Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) offers a wide range of geriatric healthcare services to promote the health and well-being of Qatar’s elderly population.
Dr Amir Ibrahim Abdalla, consultant geriatrician and emergency geriatrics clinical lead at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), says for Qatar’s ageing population, there is a new emphasis on geriatric medicine, with elder care specialists now working as part of multi-disciplinary teams operating across HMC’s network of facilities.
“The geriatrics team works across a number of HMC facilities and services. Members of our team work in emergency, inpatient, and outpatient facilities and we collaborate with colleagues across the system. As an example, we work closely with our orthopaedic colleagues to address the unique care needs of elderly patients who are recovering from fractures,” said Dr Abdalla.
“Rumailah Hospital also offers a wide range of geriatric services through its specialised longterm care units and its specialised falls prevention, memory, general geriatrics, and rapid assessment clinics,” he noted.
Dr Abdalla explained that while geriatric care is provided across HMC, services are integrated and there is a focus on treating the ‘whole patient’, taking every aspect of their life into account, including culture and tradition.
“With approximately 12% of the country’s population projected to be over the age of 65 by 2022, demand for specialised geriatric services is expected to continue rising. Individuals over the age of 65 have a range of unique healthcare requirements that include a number of conditions typical of, if not specific to, ageing, such as dementia, depression, delirium, incontinence, vertigo, falls, bone fractures, and nutritional deficiencies. Elderly patients may also require longer hospital stays,” the consultant geriatrician explained.
According to Dr Abdalla, HMC is continuing to add new and innovative services to address the specific care needs of elderly patients and current services, such as a memory clinic and a falls prevention clinic, have filled an important void. Geriatric physicians also work across the system within multi-disciplinary teams, providing physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, nutrition and dietetics services, and other allied healthcare services.
He also pointed out most patients with complex medical conditions are admitted to Rumailah Hospital’s long-term care wards, adult ventilator units, or the Enaya Specialised Care Centres and a large number of elderly patients are cared for by HMC’s Home Health Care Service.
“We recently introduced a new service at Al Wakra Hospital that provides specialised counselling for our elderly patients via a weekly outpatient clinic. This service is also provided at Enaya Specialised Care Centers 1 and 2 in Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City and involves providing patients with a comprehensive health assessment as well as any necessary follow-up care, including rehabilitation,” added Dr Abdalla.