Geriatric Care
Geriatric care is the branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illnesses and diseases in elderly people, with a focus on helping you lead a quality and independent life. In most cases, geriatric care includes a programme that facilitates the following:
- Early detection of acute and chronic illnesses
- Preventing the further development of current conditions
- Maintaining healthy function
Dr Tony Tom specialises in providing senior medical care services to elderly patients with the team at Melomed Tokai. He obtained a diploma in Geriatric Care from the University of Whales and uses a holistic approach combined with a multidisciplinary team to provide specialised care.
What does geriatric care involve?
The needs of the elderly are typically chronic, progressive, and complex, which requires communication and collaboration among specialists as an essential component of effective geriatric care.
Typically, patients receive care comprising an array of services, from mobility exercises and nutritional guidance to assisted home care and mental health support. Other services include:
- Providing compassionate and kind care
- Addressing the patient’s individual needs
- Considering all aspects of healing, including mental, physical and emotional
- Helping them achieve healthy sleep patterns
- Providing mobility exercises
- Ensuring patient privacy and safety
Some common geriatric conditions that older patients face include urinary incontinence (bladder issues), sleep problems, delirium, dementia, falls, osteoporosis, cardiovascular issues, and weight loss.
Receiving geriatric care
The first step to geriatric care is a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA). This is defined as a multidisciplinary diagnostic and treatment process that identifies the medical, psychosocial, and functional limitations of an elderly patient to develop a coordinated plan to maximise overall health with ageing. Dr Tom will assess the overall health of you or your loved one in an initial consultation before establishing a course of treatment.
Each patient’s treatment programme will differ depending on their condition and needs. Dr Tom’s knowledge and experience in treating the elderly and lifestyle diseases allow him to treat multiple conditions while drawing on the expertise of the versatile teams available at Melomed Tokai. This includes physicians, dieticians and physiotherapists working together to provide quality care in the later years of life.
Dr Tom aims to cater to various medical aid schemes and charges medical aid rates for consultations. Alternatively, if you are not on medical aid, Dr Tom provides affordable billing rates. Should you or a loved one require geriatric care, contact Dr Tom, who will provide the quality care you need to achieve independence in a safe and welcoming environment.