Unicamp's Hospital de Clínicas (HC) gained membership in the São Paulo Elderly Friendly Program, which grants the “Elderly Friendly” seal to public, private, philanthropic hospital units or foundations that qualify according to evaluation criteria established by the institution itself. program. Adhering to the Age-Friendly Seal is the first step in the journey, which progresses to the initial, intermediate and full levels.
The certification is an initiative of the São Paulo State Department of Health and aims to identify actions that promote greater quality and efficiency in the care of elderly people, strengthen care safety and guarantee humanized care for the population aged 60 years and over. .
“Our objective is to continue with actions that will strengthen the quality and safety of assistance to elderly users cared for at the HC and obtain the initial seal by December 2023, but the goal is to reach the full level of the program”, said the superintendent of the HC from Unicamp, Elaine Cristina de Ataíde.
Adhesion to the Elderly Friendly Seal will allow the development of interdisciplinary strategies that value the inclusion and autonomy needs of the elderly person cared for at the HC.
“I believe that the program directs the development of actions that will promote the quality of the care structure and processes and the development of our employees and users for safe, qualified, differentiated and humanized care”, says nurse Nilcilene Pinheiro.
Geriatrics Outpatient Clinic
The Unicamp HC Geriatrics Outpatient Clinic serves approximately 100 elderly patients per month. Each geriatric appointment lasts around an hour to an hour and a half. Resident doctors from Geriatrics, resident doctors from Internal Medicine, Neurology, Geriatric Neuropsychiatry and fifth-year Medicine students from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp participate.
The geriatrician responsible for the Geriatrics outpatient clinic at Unicamp's HC, Andre Fattori, reinforces that the objective of the program is to promote inclusive actions for the social support of the population over the age of 60, considering the evident fact of population aging, the increased longevity, the number of diseases and the degree of functional dependence.
According to Fattori, anticipating these events allows the prevention of various aspects of the elderly person's life, preserving fundamental characteristics for active aging, which are the maintenance of autonomy and independence.
Also according to the geriatrician, the targeting of specific measures for the elderly population in any environment, but especially the hospital environment, uses geriatric and gerontological knowledge that guarantees quality of life in the aging process, through health actions, social insertion, particular attention and respect for fundamental rights that, ultimately, are related to the well-being of the person as they age.
“In the hospital environment, the Program’s implementation measures can guarantee greater safety for elderly patients, with the qualification of assistance and improvement of processes”, comments Fattori.
Steps
The first step to continue with the actions related to the Age-Friendly seal is the establishment of the Local Management Committee supported by the superintendence. The committee will initially be composed of the care and support areas, including the Department of Nursing, the NQSS, the Discipline of Geriatrics of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMC) at Unicamp, the Department of Physiotherapy, the Division of Nutrition and Dietetics, Social Service and Pharmacy Service, all from HC at Unicamp.
The Geriatrics Discipline's expectation of joining the Program is to contribute to the guidance of procedures in a qualified manner, based on the best evidence in the area and integrating multi and interdisciplinary gerontological knowledge. The expected result is the improvement of assistance offered to elderly people in the hospital context.
Elderly Friendly Program and Seal
The São Paulo Age-Friendly Program and the Age-Friendly Seal were established by Decree No. 58.047, of May 15, 2012, and these are instruments for promoting a broad mobilization process carried out in the state, valuing the premises of the World Health Organization ( WHO) regarding Active Aging and establishing four pillars of action, protection, education, health and participation. A 2022 Federal Law replaces the terminology “elderly” with “elderly person” in all public services and documents.
