Trips to the emergency room often rattle the nerves of older patients and can actually make them more ill. Incessant noise. Harsh lighting. Slick linoleum floors. Scurrying strangers. Bustling, overcrowded ERs are not the ideal place of care for the roughly 70 million baby boomers now in America.
With both the upsurge of older Americans and costs of healthcare, plus competition from urgent-care facilities and after-hour clinics that charge less, many hospitals are now designing entire geriatric emergency rooms. Seniors are often at higher risk for hospital admissions or health complications in traditional ERs with staff who are often spread too thin.
A nationwide study by George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., found that in the past decade visits by seniors to emergency rooms have increased by more than a third. To adjust to the specific healthcare needs of seniors, emergency rooms are now being converted or built specifically for the elderly and offer:
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- Better-designed computer in-take systems that reduce patient wait time.
- Less crowded sub-waiting areas with more comfortable, ergonomic seating.
- Upgraded medical records for more seamless care among all medical providers.
- Nonskid floors to reduce the risk of falls.
- Reduced noise, including room curtains without the sound of metal scraping against metal.
- More personalized attention, including extra volunteers to interact with seniors as they wait.
- Softer lighting, including artificial skylights that change with time of day to prevent confusion.
- Thicker, softer mattresses and reclining chairs to lessen pressure.
- Additional handrails along room and hallway walls.
- Easier-to-read clocks and telephones, and larger print medical forms.
- Book carts and music selections that relate more to seniors’ interests.
- Handheld tablets to listen to music, order food or interact in two-way conversations with medical staff.
