engleski

Centers of gerontology - Institute od Public Health and Gerontology Centers in Croatia

The gerontologic-public health service provided at primary health care level by the Centers of Gerontology of the Public Health Institutes (PHI) in particular Croatian counties, City of Zagreb and Republic of Croatia is based on the established gerontologic-public health parameters of health care needs and functional ability of the elderly in institutional and non-institutional health care. The measures of gerontologic-public health care have been legally defined by the Act on Amendments of the Act on Health Care, referring to the Plan and Program of Health Care Measures on National Health Insurance for Gerontologic-Public Health Service provided by gerontologic-public health care teams. Appropriate preventive gerontologic program of primary prevention for the elderly has also been performed by Gerontology Centers in local community, providing immediate gerontologic non-institutional care for the elderly. A comprehensive approach in health care of the elderly, with family medicine playing the leading role, is ensured by due coordination at the level of primary health care for the elderly as part of the gerontologic-public health service with a catchment population of 30, 000 people older than 65. Health care of the elderly cannot be performed, upgraded or evaluated for efficiency and availability unless the respective gerontologic-public health parameters on health care needs and functional ability of the elderly in institutional and non-institutional health care have been established. These very parameters make the basis of the gerontologic- public health service provided at primary health care level by the Centers of Gerontology at Institutes of Public Health in Croatian counties, City of Zagreb and Republic of Croatia. Appropriate programs of health care measures and procedures in health care of the elderly, including primary, secondary and tertiary prevention for the elderly, could only be developed based on monitoring and assessment of the health care needs of the elderly. Such an appropriate preventive gerontologic program of primary prevention for the elderly has also been implemented by Gerontology Centers in local community, by providing immediate gerontologic non-institutional care for the elderly. The aim is to enable the elderly to stay at home, with the family, as long as possible. In these efforts, coordination with primary health care (PHC) professionals, i.e. selected family physicians providing care for geriatric insurees, is necessary. Based on their recommendation (PHC referral letter ; Fig. 1), geriatric insurees would be justifiably relieved of unnecessary and time- consuming waiting in lines in waiting rooms for examination at PHC offices. This is confirmed by frequent visits of elderly insurees to the selected PHC office for some social indication.

centers of gerontology ; gerontology centers ; Croatia ; health care for elderly

nije evidentirano