Although people age 65 and older make up just 16 percent of the U.S. population, they make up about 40 percent of hospitalized adults — and hospitals should focus more on designing their facilities with elderly patients in mind, a physician wrote in a STAT op-ed.
Three insights from the op-ed, written by Louise Aronson, MD, professor of geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco:
1. At most hospitals, the newest facilities are for cancer, neuroscience, pediatrics and research — leaving older patients in older buildings, Dr. Aronson said. Older buildings typically mean elderly patients must take long walks down halls without railings, or use chairs without armrests and struggle to read signs with small print.
"It means a one-size-fits-all approach to both facilities and care that doesn't acknowledge that the needs, preferences and realities of a 75- or 95-year-old with a medical condition might differ from those of a 35- or 55-year-old with the same thing," Dr. Aronson said.
2. "Healthcare not only fails to cater to elders, it fosters systemwide injustice by failing to apply the same standards to elderhood that it applies to childhood and adulthood," Dr. Aronson said. "Just as children's hospitals have been shown to save and better the lives of children, hospital wards, services and emergency departments aimed at elders improve their care and lives when compared to adult-centric facilities."
3. Hospitals already have many of the features that can improve safety for older patients. "Useful tech-based design elements include communication options that don't require finding and pressing a call button, as well smart monitors that identify staff members on a large TV as they come into the room," Dr. Aronson said, and this technology is especially beneficial for patients with impaired vision, hearing, dexterity or thinking.