Home Care for Older Adults Using Interprofessional Teams

This textbook fosters a deeper understanding of how home healthcare goals for older adults can be achieved through interprofessional collaboration. The contributors create a context where allied health and healthcare professionals can acquire and exchange knowledge about their diverse disciplines and practices for the betterment of the home care population. The book also reinforces what the COVID-19 pandemic made quite apparent to health institutions and providers: patients can receive adequate and acceptable care within the home setting. The pandemic also highlighted the important role that interprofessionalism can play in attaining desired patient outcomes. 

Statistics reveal that the population of persons over the age of 65 years is the largest that it has ever been. This volume focuses on older adult patients because caring for these individuals from an interprofessional perspective is now more important than ever.  

Through the ten chapters of this edited book, the contributors including home care providers offer their perspectives on interprofessional collaboration and the provision of quality home care services. They use the Interprofessional Education Collaborative's (IPEC) four core competencies as a framework for improving the collaborative practice of home health care for older adult patients with complex medical issues. Among the topics covered:

• Medical Social Work and Case Management 
• Skilled Nursing  
• Physical Therapy 
• Occupational Therapy
• Behavioral Health Care
• Other Relevant Home Care Services: Prosthetics and Orthotics, Pharmacy Services, Durable Medical Equipment and Nutritional Services

Home Care for Older Adults Using Interprofessional Teams is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in health or allied health programs and can be used as a primary text for interprofessional education courses. The text benefits students, instructors, and faculty who have stakes in obtaining positive health outcomes for older adult patients. Today, more and more programs are requiring the development of interprofessional competencies. This book provides a forum where students can obtain in-depth knowledge of teaming, as well as the roles and functions of various care providers.