Home Safety Evaluation: Can I send this patient home?

Home Safety Evaluation: Can I send this patient home? - #22

Take Quiz

How will a home safety evaluation benefit your geriatric patient?

Geriatric patient in the Emergency Department, physician considering the patient’s safety in light of a possible home discharge.

List patient factors to consider when deciding if an elderly patient discharging to home from the emergency department will benefit from a home safety evaluation, and describe what occurs during that evaluation process.

  1. List safety hazards that are assessed in an elderly patient home safety evaluation (What)
  2. List the 4 patient domains to consider when determining whether an elderly patient is “safe” to return home after their visit to the emergency department. (Who)
  3. Explain the processes for ordering and reimbursement of a home safety evaluation (How)
  1. He W, Sengupta M, Velkoff VA, Debarrow KA.,  65+ in the United States: U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Reports.  Washington, DC:US Government Printing Office; 2005, 23-209.
  2. Warren, J.L., Rodiek, S., Changing Living Environments for Older Adults: Environmental Supports for Aging in Place. Case Based Geriatrics: A Global Approach 2011, p207-223.
  3. Check for Safety: A Home Fall Prevention Checklist for Older Adults. http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Falls/CheckListForSafety.html
  4. Gill TM, Williams CS, Robison JT, Tinetti ME.  A Population-based study of environmental hazards in the homes of older persons.  Am J Public Health. 1999; 89:553-556.
This GFF ___ my competence in geriatrics.

Kathryn Denson MD, Judi Rehm, Coleen Crowe MD, Bambi Wessel

Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin