Medisan (Feb 2021)
Quality of the elderly care in two polyclinics from Santiago de Cuba municipality
Abstract
Introduction: The increase of population aging is an universal fact and one of the fundamental problems of this century, since the comprehensive health of elderly is directly related to their life quality. Objective: To evaluate the process of elderly care in units of the health primary level. Methods: An investigation in health systems and services of evaluative type of the quality of the elderly care in two polyclinics from Santiago de Cuba was carried out (Carlos Juan Finlay and Camilo Torres Restrepo teaching polyclinics), during 2018, for which validated forms were already implemented. A sample of 260 and 40 medical records was taken, respectively from a universe constituted by 11 992 patients belonging from both health institutions and by 280 medical records of frail elderly assisted by the work basic groups. Results: The evaluation carried out to elderly in the family doctor offices was considered as poor; just a tenth part of the total was referred to the geriatrician; the consultations and home visits were fulfilled according to schedule just in a third part of the patients, what led to very unfavorable results in fundamental aspects as the realization of the health periodic exam, geriatric scale of functional evaluation and elderly evaluation. On the other hand, in the health basic team neither health periodic exam was taken into consideration as the tool with which elderly are evaluated in the social, functional, psychological and biomedical aspects, nor the value of medical follow up schedule; all this influenced by an unfavorable interrogation and physical exam. Conclusions:The quality of the care process in the family doctor office and in the basic group of work evaluated as poor evidences the lack of competence in this respect and the ignorance of what is established for an appropriate care to the elderly.
