He has a history of homelessness and has been living in the home for the past 5 years. In recent months, I have noticed changes in him and reported those to his visiting RN from Care More. He had begun to explore medical reasons as to why the elder was not remembering things and possible reasons for confusion. After eliminating certain diagnoses, I suggested a social worker to come out and see him from their agency. Sharon Schubitzke has her Masters in social work and has been with the agency for five years. I sat in my office to discuss her role as a social worker and I went over our policies and procedures of outside agencies providing care for the elders living there. I asked her the scope of her role and what she hoped the outcome would be. She detailed to me that she would be performing a mini mental status exam on the elder in order to find out his cognitive baseline. After assessing and coming up with a number she then sends her findings to the RN, PCP, and Psychiatrist. As a combined effort to help the elder, all test results are reviewed before moving to the next step in the …show more content…
Because he has ACHHS, as a curtsey they pick up the elder and take them to any appointment they may have via discount cab. As I watched the cab pulled up to the facility, the cab driver parked and came in to front area where the elder was sitting. He helped the elder out and into the cab. I sat next to him listened to the conversation led by the elder to the cab driver, Jim. Jim recognized the elder from past trips to appointments and there seemed to be genuine care and concern for the elder. As we got to our destination, I held the door for the elder and I reminded him that I wanted to observe the process. As he went to the front desk, a young woman asked him for his ID and Insurance card and then handed him forms to fill out. Knowing that he is illiterate, I offered to fill out the forms for him and after they were completed, he signed them and handed them back to her. The wait was only for about five minutes and he went in for his appointment. I asked the receptionist what the process was for a patient to call for their return ride back to the facility and she explained that the patient usually asks for them to call the insurance company for a pickup. She made the call for him and after he came out from having his MRI, we waited for the return ride. As we waited for the cab to arrive to bring us back, I watched his facial expressions. He was nervous for days prior