What Most Long Term Care Professionals Don't Know

Medicare recognizes this need and, thereforetreatment program. Itis well documented that
reimburses your residents to receive advancedpsychologists assist residents indeveloping coping
behavioral health services... making them free to yourstrategies and healthy behaviors, which canreduce the
facility!factors associated with the development of illness.
Psychologists provide a wide variety of valuable and11. The psychologist has a unique expertise in the
testedclinical services that can provide a big shot in thediagnosisand treatment of conditions addressed in
arm to yournursing home care. For example:nursinghome care such as stress disorders,
1. Psychotherapy is a treatment approach, which inneurological impairments, brain disease
many cases is equally, if not more, effective thanandpsychosomatic illness. Psychologists have been in
drugtherapies in nursing home care. Cognitiveandthe forefrontof high quality research involving the
interpersonal psychotherapies, for example, aremutual influences whichmind, body, emotion and
effectivetreatments for depression.disease have on each other.
2. Psychological alternatives todrug therapies are12. Next-generation physicians consult psychologists to
particularly valuable to elderly populationsreceivingobtain anexpert assessment regarding any
nursing home care who are sufferingpsychological disorders present,advice on the
fromovermedication and side effects of various drugsimplementation of behavioral programs, thepinpointing
and theirinteractions. These alternatives can reduce theof specific behavioral symptoms and the targeting
medication usein your long term care facility thusofresulting treatment goals. One reason is that 81% of
reducing any complaints ofover-medication ofadultssay that they would feel more comfortable
residents.seeing a physician whoconsults with a psychologist.
3. Psychologists can significantly bolster the impact of13. Diagnostic tests performed by psychologists are
the nursing home care andtreatment plan of patientsstate-of-the-art tools. Increasingly, physicians are turning
suffering from chronic illnessesthrough a variety ofto them to pinpoint any emotional orbehavioral factors
advanced interventions providing a powerfultreatmentthat may be affecting or interfering with thetreatment
synergy that is invaluable.process in nursing home care.
4. People can be helped to control high blood pressure14. These next-generation diagnostic services give
and manage chronic pain orheadaches with feweradded power to yournursing home care because they
medications, when psychotherapy,can be used to assess among otherthings, prognosis
behavioraltechniques, and biofeedback are added toand the existence of functional impairments,degree of
nursing home care.intellectual, cognitive and/or psychologicalimpairment
5. Breast cancer patients who participate in groupand the extent of any dementia or memory
psychotherapysurvive longer and manage theirimpairments.
symptomsbetter than those who do not.They also specify treatment and documentation
6. Pre-surgical psychological counseling leads tofewerguidelines whichenable staff to reduce risk by use of
complications and a reduction in medication utilization.more concrete factors tolist in charting and by
7. Psychotherapy added to nursing home care enablesenhancing the odds for resident recoveryand/or the
somediabetics who are at risk for erratic treatmentslowing of the process of deterioration.
compliance tomaintain their discipline of diet and insulin15. Sophisticated physicians are increasingly applying
treatments.these resultsto develop faster-acting and
8. Psychological interventions help cancer patients tolonger-lastingrehabilitative services and treatment
manage theunpleasant side effects of theirprograms that stand head-over-heels aboveyour
chemotherapy so that theirlives are disrupted lessnursing home peers in long term care.
seriously and their daily effectivenessis maintained.16. Psychologists emphasize the least restrictive,
9. Individual and family psychologicalinterventions addedsafest, drug-free, mostcost-efficient treatment
to your nursing home care are effective forenhancingalternatives available leading to thembeing increasingly
resident quality of life. It does this by enablingtherecruited to provide services to long termcare
resident to effectively manage the depression, anxiety,residents and being a factor in the numerous
andother adjustment issues resulting from the onset ofcomplimentsadministrators start getting from their
chronic anddisabling illness.bosses.
10. Psychotherapy and/or other behavioralinterventions17. Dynamic Team-building. They will empower your
enrich your nursing home care by helping yourresidentsnursing home care manytimes over because they are
to change lifestyle habits in order to reduce risksforexperts in facilitating cohesiveteam-work to generate
cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.results. They excel at working with teamsof other
Becomerecognized as a forward-looking leader in longhealth care professionals in nursing homes and
term care byhaving your own specialized psychologicalothercomprehensive rehabilitation facilities.