Who’s Best for Elderly Care? Comparing Family NPs and Gerontology Specialists

The older a person gets, the more specialized their healthcare needs often become. There are entire jobs dedicated only to working with aging adults. Doctors, nurses. Medical technicians. You want the best possible care for your elderly loved one.

How do you get it?

The answer will ultimately depend on several factors. The patient’s conditions. What is available in your community? What insurance is willing to pay for?

In this article, we provide a comprehensive look at who is best for elderly care. Read on to learn more!

What is a Family Nurse Practitioner?

A family nurse practitioner (often referred to as an FNP) provides generalized care. Their services typically closely resemble those of a general practitioner. You might see them for regular health consultations. They can provide standard checkups, make diagnoses, and write prescriptions.

These professionals are Registered nurses who have gone on to get a graduate degree specific to family care.

Elderly adults absolutely can see an FNP, though usually only if they fall into the category of still requiring “preventative care.”

Preventative care, as the name suggests, is any healthcare recommendation designed with longevity in mind.

At a certain point in life, many people age out of preventative care. They aren’t exactly dying, but they have an assortment of ailments that will never improve.

At that point, generalized care is no longer a good fit for them. They need a specialist who will be able to manage their symptoms and keep them comfortable. While this sounds like hospice care—and can, in fact, include end-of-life planning—patients who reach this stage can go on to live for several years.

Gerontology Specialists

Gerontology is the next stage of care. As mentioned in our last heading, people receiving gerontology care are trying to manage symptoms. They might receive pain relief medication. They might be given physical therapy to improve their mobility. Often, they will have limited autonomy. Many people receiving gerontology services are unable to manage hygienic considerations, or even get around their house without assistance.

Consequently, gerontology services are often administered:

• In nursing homes, or similar settings, or
• Through in-home care.

In-home care is, naturally what most people prefer. However, it is very expensive, with most services charging, $50-70 an hour.

While many different types of professionals can administer this type of care, nurse practitioners are frequently employed in this setting. Acute Gerontology NPs have graduate degrees that are specialized in working with elderly adults.

Often, they will work with a team of other professionals to make sure that all of the patient's needs are being met.

Everyone Else

Often, the majority of people a patient receiving gerontology care will interact with aren’t doctors or nurses. They might be technicians, or “home healthcare workers.” Professionals who are qualified to help with medication, take vitals, and possibly help with small tasks around the house.

The professionals are usually necessary in situations where an aging patient wishes to remain at home, but cannot safely do so alone. Home health professionals can be employed for evenings and days, though often family members will take turns providing care to keep costs more manageable.

Home health professionals need only a high school diploma to qualify for their jobs, but many will go on to get some sort of associate-level degree in healthcare. These degrees can often be scaled up into a nursing certification with more schooling.

Who else works with Elderly Adults?

In addition to all of the jobs described above, there are a range of other positions designed to make sure that the patient is receiving robust care. For example:
 

• Social Worker: Clinical social workers serve as advocates for patients with mental healthcare needs. They may provide basic counseling services while also coordinating other appointments and medications. They work on behalf of the patient, making sure they are able to access all of the services they are entitled to. They also serve as a sort of liaison between the patient and the hospitals they interact with, ensuring that they understand to the best of their ability the complex services they are receiving.
• Psychologists: In addition to working with social workers, aging patients will also have regular appointments with mental health professionals. People’s mental health needs evolve considerably with age. Through a robust range of healthcare services, the aging patient can handle the difficult emotions that come with infirmity more effectively.

It’s important to keep in mind that elderly adults deal with many traumatic experiences all at once. They lose the ability to take care of themselves. They struggle with the idea of death. Often, they do this all in isolation. Their friends have either passed on or are facing the same challenges that they are.

Their family may wish to help, but often lack the time or resources to be with them regularly. These factors contribute to feelings of depression and hopelessness. While mental health professionals cannot change the underlying conditions contributing to those feelings, they can make the experience more manageable.

Conclusion

If you are trying to figure out how to connect your family member with the right professional help, you probably feel pretty overwhelmed. That’s natural. While it would be a lie to say that the experience is easy, it doesn’t have to be as challenging as you might think.
Ideally, you will be able to spend a bit of time researching options in your community so that you fully understand what is available to you.

The best time to start researching gerontology care is before your loved one actually needs it. That said, best-case scenarios aren’t always possible.

If your situation has changed suddenly, you can still make sure that your loved one receives high-quality care. Sit down with their doctor to find out what the next steps are.

And while the financial realities of elder care can be overwhelming, don’t panic at initial numbers. There are various forms of public assistance and even grants that can help make the costs more manageable.

Things will get better eventually.