Contemporary Issues in Older Person Care

Course details

The aim of this module is to introduce students to a range of contemporary issues allied to older persons’ care provision.

Content:

• Older People in Ireland: A Profile of Health Status, Lifestyle and Socio-economic Factors from SLÁN & TILDA
• Impact of ageing with concomitant existing conditions such as sensory mental health disabilities.
• Exemplars of biological, sociological, and psychological theories that can influence ageing process.
• Principles of care and case management
• Models of person centred care and application in older person care settings
• Elder Abuse: Statistics; Types; Risk factors; Interventions Legal and ethical issues
• Dementia: Statistics: Diagnosis; cost; Care interventions and challenges
• Falls: Statistics Risk factors; assessment; cost; Care interventions and challenges
• Disability: Statistics; Type; assessment; care interventions and challenges
• Models of palliative care and application to older person care; respite care provision
• Caring in the community: needs/challenges; informal/family carers needs; Support structures.

Facilitation of learning:

Lecture; workshops and discussion groups; group work; presentations and seminars.

Assessment strategy:

Literature review (4000 word) focusing on one aspect of older person care (60%)

Examination (40%)