Establishing In-hospital Geriatrics Services in Africa: Insights from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital Geriatrics Project

Overview

Journal Ann Afr Med

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2016 Aug 24

PMID 27549420

Citations 3

Authors

Obehi Aituaje Akoria

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Unawareness of the peculiar healthcare needs of the elderly and resource constraints may be some reasons why until recently, Nigerian hospitals have not been equipped with the human and infrastructural resources required to meet older adults' special healthcare needs. There is paucity of specialized health services for the elderly in Africa. Nigeria, with a population of over 170 million, did not have any healthcare facility with dedicated services for the elderly until 2012. The University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) in Nigeria was established in 1973 and created its geriatrics unit in October 2013. A prepared environment and trained interdisciplinary teams are pivotal in providing effective healthcare services for the elderly. The ongoing UBTH geriatrics project aims to provide specialized interdisciplinary health services to older adults and to provide training and continuing professional development in geriatrics for healthcare staff. In developing our inpatient services, we adopted the acute care for elders (ACE) model and worked in tandem with the "ABCs" of implementing ACE units.

Results: In the face of limited resources, it was possible to establish a functional geriatrics unit with a trained interdisciplinary team. Family participation is central in our practice. Since October 2013, residents and house officers in internal medicine have been undertaking 4- and 12-weekly rotations, respectively. There is also a robust academic program, which includes once-weekly geriatric pharmacotherapy seminars, once-weekly interdisciplinary seminars, and 2-weekly journal club meetings alternating with seminars on geriatric assessment tools.

Conclusions: It is possible to establish geriatric services and achieve best practices in resource-limited settings by investing on improving available human resources and infrastructure. We also make recommendations for setting up similar services in other parts of Africa.

Citing Articles

Perspectives of Family Caregivers on Healthcare Provided to Older Adults With Hypertension and/or Diabetes Mellitus in Ghana.

Boateng E, Agyapomah R, Amankwaa I, Dzomeku V, Peprah L Gerontol Geriatr Med. 2024; 10:23337214241261534.

PMID: 38899054 PMC: 11186387. DOI: 10.1177/23337214241261534.

Longitudinal Studies of Aging in Sub-Saharan Africa: Review, Limitations, and Recommendations in Preparation of Projected Aging Population.

Akinrolie O, Iwuagwu A, Kalu M, Rayner D, Oyinlola O, Ezulike C Innov Aging. 2024; 8(4):igae002.

PMID: 38628825 PMC: 11020233. DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igae002.

Pre-Therapeutic Assessment of Older People in Sub-Saharan Africa: Introduction to the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment.

Essomba M, Mapoko B, Metogo Mbengono J, Simo-Tabue N, Kengne A, Choukem S J Clin Med. 2024; 13(6).

PMID: 38542024 PMC: 10970849. DOI: 10.3390/jcm13061801.

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