Urban Health Centres Europe

In Pallini, during the initial assessment by the MD, it became obvious very soon that in many cases, the participants’ answers regarding awareness related to uptake of medication were diverging from the real practice and the physician’s cross - check.

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During the initial assessment phase, the senior person was instructed to bring along all current medication. Taking into consideration the elderly’s answers to the initial UHCE questionnaire regarding polypahrmacy, the physician reviewed the elderly’s medication. Questions such as “What do you use your medication for?”, “Do you encounter any problem when you take your medication”, “ How many times per day do you take your medication” "During last week how many times did you not take your medication" etc. gave a realistic picture regarding adherence to treatment and causes of low compliance.

 

After the initial assessment, implementation of the polypharmacy pathway was organized separately for the two groups (picture 1), i.e. the one showing awareness to medication intake and the one showing unawareness to medication purpose. Follow up visits at the municipal health center of Pallini were scheduled for the first group in order to identify any changes or new problems in the current medication plan that might lead to lower compliance to medication intake. Regarding the second group of older persons, all were invited in small group of 10 in training courses in order to support them in the use of an e-health application provided by VIDAVO Health Telematics. The application was designed to increase compliance and adherence to medication in an environment fostering learning and behaviour change. Most of them were not familiar with the use of a tablet or a software app in general. Some of them were very reluctant in systematically using the app and the tablet. The Pallini team was very helpful, and provided continuous contact with the nurse and /or the physician in order to solve any technical problems and concerns.

 

In Valencia, more than 60 seniors meet twice a week at the Community Centre, located in their neighbourhood. Within the UHCE project, a physical exercise programme has been designed by a physiotherapist who is in charge of leading the physical exercise groups. The programme is based on balance and strength training which have demonstrated been the most effective on reducing falls.

 

The physical exercise program started in October 2015 and since then the high attendance rates have been maintained, demonstrating adherence to the programme among the participants. Besides outcome expectative assessment, feedback from participant regarding their motivation has also been gathered. Many participants have reported improvements, at both physical and mental levels, since they are attending the program. The following quotes are examples of this:

 

“I can't remember feeling lazy since I started the program”. (Woman, 79)

 

“After a few days without exercise, I felt weak and numb”. (After Christmas break. Woman, 83)

 

“I like to come here because I can talk to new people”. (Man, 94)