Just because she lives at Lenoir Manor, a continuing-care retirement facility, Laura, a petite (4 ft 8 in., 97 lb) widow of the local college dean, does not consider herself as old. She is 87. She has had no major nutritional or health problems and her appetite is good. She had been a good cook and entertained graciously, but in the residential care facility, meals are prepared for her. Because she has had slight fluid retention over the past year, she no longer adds salt to her meals. She tells Bridget Doyle, her nutritionist, that yes, occasionally she does not like her meals and misses cooking for herself.

One Monday morning, Laura is found in bed with her left side paralyzed. The diagnosis is a right-sided stroke, resulting in three weeks of hospitalization. Back at the skilled-care wing of Lenoir, Laura needs a nasogastric tube for feeding. She is alert and knows people but is limited in speech. Overnight, Laura’s care has changed from an individual needing routine nutritional monitoring to someone with many interrelated problems:

• Inability to communicate her overall medical and nutritional concerns clearly
• Weight loss of 9 lb during the three-week hospital stay
• Intense dislike of the nasal tube, as demonstrated by repeated attempts to pull it out, leading to restraint of her hands

Diagnosis

What disciplines should be involved in Laura’s care plan, and why?

To determine: The disciplines to be involved in Person L’s case, along with the reasons.

Introduction: The importance of good healthcare is very significant in older adults, especially those who have undergone some physiological changes. For example, who lost weight, had a heart attack, or a brain stroke. The health condition of such individuals is usually represented by a collection of symptoms that indicate malfunctioning of multiple systems in the body. Personnel who are taking care of health and well being of such persons should be experts from different disciplines, such that the complete health condition is understood and addressed accordingly through the multimodal intervention.

Person L who stands at 4ft 8 inch and weighs 97 lb is currently a 87-year old widow residing at a residential continuing-care retirement facility where she is served food, though she wishes to cook on her own citing her dislike toward the food. Her appetite is good and she does not face any major nutritional or health issues. However, in the past one year, she has reduced her salt intake because of the condition of fluid retention. Recently, Person L was hospitalised for three weeks at the skilled-care center where she was fitted with a nasogastric tube for feeding and was observed to be alert and aware inspite of the artificial fixation. On Monday morning, she suffered a right-sided stroke that paralyzed her left-side. It was discovered that she lost 9 lb of weight and suddenly started displaying intense dislike of the nasal tube. Also, she was not clearly able to communicate her overall medical and nutritional concerns.

According to the case summary, Person L is currently compromised with several health problems. The disciplines that Person L might be involved in are as follows:

Person L has been expressing disinterest over the food she is being provided with at her residential accomodation and had to be hospitalised. She had to be fitted with a nasogastric tube for feeding...