Providing specialised geriatric care

Renowned director K Viswanadh inaugurated the ‘Apollo Elder Care’ centre in Jubilee Hills on Wednesday. Members of Apollo Hospitals that included Sangita Reddy, Jt Managing Director; Dr Hari Prasad, President and Dr Vasanth Kumar, Senior Consultant - Internal Medicine & Geriatrics were present on the occasion.

Viswanadh said, “With children being encouraged to go abroad and explore opportunities and grow their career, the elders are left to fend for themselves, at an age when they are vulnerable and need support. It is in such circumstances they need a support system and a dedicated geriatric center like this helps and provides the comfort needed.

Doctors dealing with elderly need enormous patience, the elderly have several doubts and persistently ask for the same thing again and again, under such circumstances the doctors need to deal with them patiently, which is not an easy thing to inculcate for a doctor.”

“A clinic like this which is in sync with the needs of the elderly is a very nice thing to happen, it is very beneficial to old people,” he added. Reddy said, “This exclusive centre for the elderly, will be a comprehensive one to diagnose the patient, comprehend their medical background and offer customised care. In the first phase of the launch, the service will be available in Hyderabad.”

“It is a specialised geriatric care initiative where proficient geriatricians and allied medical professionals provide comprehensive geriatric assessment to address all-round needs of a patient and recommend the best treatment approach,” she said.

Dr Kumar added, “The core treatment facilities available at the centre includes care towards preventing and managing fractures, dizziness (vision care), memory loss, depression, psychological revitalization, vaccinations, fatigue, unsteadiness or weakness, physiotherapy, diet counselling and medicine management.”

“As an exclusive programme to geriatric patients ‘Apollo Elder Care’ provides comprehensive physical, cognitive & psycho-social assessment, development of a personal care plan, super-specialists recommended surgical programmes, aid in post-operative or post illness recovery (rehabilitation) and recommendations to improve health & functional ability,” he explained.