Applying comprehensive geriatric assessment to investigate falls
Intended for healthcare professionals
Art & Science Previous     Next

Applying comprehensive geriatric assessment to investigate falls

Geraldine Rodgers Nurse consultant for frailty and long-term conditions, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Essex

Geraldine Rodgers argues that systematic evaluation of older patients’ conditions can empower them and their families to retain control over care and quality-of-life decisions

This is the second article in a short series that presents case study examples of the use of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in different clinical settings. CGA is a holistic assessment model designed to determine frail older people’s medical and mental health status, as well as functional, social and environmental issues. When applied by nurses, it can enable individualised planning for health, safety and wellbeing.

This article presents the case of an older man who had a three-month history of falls. After his most recent fall he was admitted to an emergency department, where examination identified no significant abnormal pathology, and subsequently to a nurse-led older person’s clinic. The article describes how a CGA approach was adopted to assess the man, establish an underlying diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, and develop a personalised care plan to address immediate falls risk and long-term planning.

Nursing Older People. 28, 3, 27-31. doi: 10.7748/nop.28.3.27.s24

Correspondence

geraldine.rodgers@NELFT.nhs.uk

Peer review

This article has been subject to double-blind review and has been checked using antiplagiarism software

Conflict of interest

None declared

Received: 09 October 2015

Accepted: 02 February 2016

Want to read more?

RCNi-Plus
Already have access? Log in

or

3-month trial offer for £5.25/month

Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
  • Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
  • RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
  • NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
  • Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
  • A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe

Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now


Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more