Close care should not become a paper tiger

More and more people are living longer, and more diseases are at risk of becoming chronic. Surveys conducted in Kalmar County show that more than 5,000 people will be included in the term chronically ill, where the elderly category is likely to be overrepresented.

Technological development provides new opportunities to tailor care to the individual. The shortage of employees and workers with appropriate skills is already a problem and will be a major challenge in the future as there are many areas of activity that will compete for this workforce. Concepts such as self-care, participation, influence and participation on the part of patients should also be given explicit content in close care. Here, accessibility and adapted communication tools must be available because not all older people have access to digital methods.

There is no closer care than that provided today and in the future in health centers and home health care. These concepts, such as the so-called Borgholm model, must be emphasized during reform. This is where sharing and self-care come into play. Cooperation between the two heads of care, the region and the municipality, must be close. The course of action must be shaped by the patient's experience and with careful attention to patient safety. Both in health centers and in municipal home health care, a specific doctor and a nurse responsible for the patient must follow the patient during the period of care. The patient must know that the doctor is monitoring any hospital stay on an ongoing basis until its value is improved. Shuttle movement of the elderly mainly between home and the emergency hospital should be limited. This imposes demands on new forms of accessibility for the elderly group. Special wards for the elderly must be considered in health centers as well as in inpatient care, which could interfere with frequent readmissions.

If we are to reform close care based on the needs and equal value of all patients, there must be competence and knowledge in geriatric medicine of diseases of the elderly. It should be accessible to everyone and communication activities should be simple and clear for home health care. The elderly, chronically ill and multimorbidity population should in no way be put aside when new care with new directions becomes a reality in Kalmar County.