CLINICIANS: C-RT. PT, OT, SPEECH, NURSING, ACTIVITIES

GOAL/S: MAINTAIN “BALANCE” BY IDENTIFYING DEGENERATIVE COGNITIVE, MOTOR, PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS

Background: Equilibrium is a wonderful concept, with applications in biology, thermodynamics, physics, chemistry, physiology and psychology, among other disciplines.

In geriatrics, I’ll define it as “compensating” for the loss of one or many functions human beings take for granted, until they lose them.

In dementia, it’s cognition and the 10 or 20 elements that combine to enable consciousness. In Parkinson’s Syndrome, it’s motor/movement/dopamine deficiency and in Lewy Body Dementia, it’s also cognition loss. There are many more categories of psycho/motor disorders.

In geriatric medicine, aging-induced or as consequences of diseases, or both, it can be cardiac, pulmonary, degenerative joint diseases, vascular illness, sensory loss, pain, etc., and often a combination of forces.

At the Fields, multidisciplinary teams will develop interventions to identify the losses of equilibrium, the pathologies that account for the losses and devise compensatory strategies to slow down the effects of disequilibrium.

There is always a new, individual equilibrium in aging. Allopathic philosophy and practices are driven by the Holy Grail of a “cure,” a noble but unrealistic goal after some point in old age.

A team approach to seek a new equilibrium for residents of Bellamy and Watson will be implemented in 2022.

John Hopkins Dr. P.H.