10 Great Tips to Provide Education for the Elderly Patients

The first step in providing education to the elderly patient is a complete assessment of their skills, expertise and in-depth knowledge in different areas. You need to check the reading level of the patient, their ability to learn, know English better and use various resources. This will help you to create a suitable plan based on the need of the patient. Since most home-care patients are above 60 years, you have to practice a bit different approach for fulfilling their learning requirements.

Make sure you consider these effective tips for teaching the elderly patients in the most comfortable way.

1. Have positive and patient attitude – You should have a positive approach when treating an older person and make them realize that they too are capable of learning.
2. Spend time to solve problems before teaching – You may ask the patient about their experience in the relevant field. Try to find out what has worked out or what has not earlier.
3. Know about social or cultural factors – It is important to know about cultural as well as social factors that can have an effect on the learning method.
4. Include the patient in setting objectives – A good decision is to include the patient in setting learning objectives. This will enable you to keep study material relevant according to the needs of the learner.
5. Find out any disability affecting learning method – The elderly doctor specialist will identify any kind of disability that can have an effect on the learning procedure of these patients. For example, patients having visual impairment should use glasses and investigate the learning tools.
6. Slow the pace of instruction – The instructions should be given slowing with proper teaching skills according to the absorption capability of patient. It is advised to stop teaching if the elderly patient seems to be stressed or tired.
7. Break each topic for clear understanding – The elderly patients should be taught each topic by breaking them into small parts so that learning becomes easy for them. Repeat the sessions, as and when needed to get the positive feedback from them. 
8. Ask the patient to talk about the method before trying – You will have to provide suitable opportunities for repeated demonstrations and practice sessions. Try including discussion, role play and problem-solving.
9. Hear responses properly to know they have understood – You will have to hear their responses carefully in order to be sure that they have understood the information. Check the teaching duration to meet with the learning capability of your patient.
10. Avoid taking tests every now and then – You should not take too many tests of elderly patients since this might create stress on them and thus, impede the learning process.

You may contact a Private geriatrician in London who mainly focuses on the health problems of the elderly patient and treats any disease or disability that they might have. Besides, you can also invite family members who can be an important part of the entire learning process to make things easy and convenient for you.