Leicester Elderly Care Society
The main aim of the society will be to organise weekly trips involving groups of students to the elderly wards visiting patients. The visits should last around 30 minutes, and will focus on chatting with the patients without necessarily taking a formal history.
This will serve two purposes. Firstly, helping combat the loneliness often felt by long term inpatients on the elderly wards. Although busy, hospitals can be very lonely places for patients, especially in circumstances with minimal family input or when family live far away, as is often the case. Secondly, it will give students early exposure to patients in the hospital environment. Given our ageing population, we will all work with the elderly at some point in our careers. Any extra insight into how this age group cope with illness and the hospital environment will be invaluable, particularly in regard to those patients with dementia and delirium, exposure to which is often limited during training.
The society will also aim to involve social and fundraising aspects as well as organising some special interest lectures e.g dementia, delirium and a career in geriatrics.
This will serve two purposes. Firstly, helping combat the loneliness often felt by long term inpatients on the elderly wards. Although busy, hospitals can be very lonely places for patients, especially in circumstances with minimal family input or when family live far away, as is often the case. Secondly, it will give students early exposure to patients in the hospital environment. Given our ageing population, we will all work with the elderly at some point in our careers. Any extra insight into how this age group cope with illness and the hospital environment will be invaluable, particularly in regard to those patients with dementia and delirium, exposure to which is often limited during training.
The society will also aim to involve social and fundraising aspects as well as organising some special interest lectures e.g dementia, delirium and a career in geriatrics.