Managing chronic oedema has a significant impact on NHS resources, especially in the primary care setting. As services continue to focus on care closer to home, and the population continues to age, this is only going to create more challenges for primary care teams in terms of resources, managing complex conditions and supporting older people in their own homes. Primary healthcare professionals come across older adults with chronic oedema more frequently than other healthcare professionals, and often have no formal training in the management of the complexities of the condition. Adapting to meet the growing needs of this patient group will require a change to current thinking and practice. This article discusses the management of chronic oedema and how using current evidence relating to inelastic compression devices can aid practitioners to be more efficient and effective in meeting these challenges, i.e. managing patients with chronic oedema and compression therapy, and provides case studies to support the use of these devices in primary care.
Independent Age is a charity that provides an established voice for older people, the greatest users of the NHS. As we continue to live longer, putting more strain on services, we all need to prepare for what might be an uncertain future. As more people live for longer with chronic conditions, they will need support, much of it being required in the home.
Eating well in later life is an essential part of enabling older people to live independently at home for longer. However, with increasing funding cuts to community care services in the context of an ageing society, is enough being done to encourage good nutrition in later life? This article discusses the importance of nutrition for older people and explores how community practitioners are ideally placed to spot the early warning signs of malnutrition and encourage patients to take better care of their diet.
Helen Willis, Dietitian, Wiltshire Farm Foods
Martyn Main & Rachel Unwin discuss the implications of delivering a community based cytotoxic chemotherapy service
Martyn Main. Cert (Clinical Research), BSc, PgCert TLT, MSc (Clinical Oncology), RN: Senior Lecturer, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
Rachel Unwin. BSc (Hons), PgCert HELT, MSc, RN, RM: Lecturer / Chemotherapy Course Facilitator, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
Article accepted for publication: August 2008
Dr Pat Schofield, Dr Sinead O’Mahony, Dr Beverly Collett & Dr Jonathan Potter discuss new guidance in response to the need to improve the management of pain in older adults
Dr Pat Schofield PhD, PGDip Ed., DipN., RN is Director at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Nursing (CASN), Centre of Academic Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Scotland; Chair – British Pain?Society Special Interest Group (Pain in Older Adults); Chair – Education Committee, International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).
Dr Sinead O’Mahony FRCPC (Geriatric Medicine) is a Senior Lecturer/Consultant Physician, Llandough NHS Trust, Penarth, South Glamorgan
Dr Beverly Collett FFPMRCA is a Consultant in Pain Medicine, University Hospitals of Leicester
Dr Jonathan Potter FRCP is a Consultant Geriatrician, Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Canterbury
Article accepted for publication: July 2008
Gina Newbury discusses the future of community nurse education in Wales.
Gina Newbury MSc, BA (Hons), PGDip DN, RN, PGCE is Programme Manager BSc CHS & Lecturer in Primary Care & Public Health, Cardiff School of Nursing & Midwifery, Cardiff University, Wales.
Article accepted for publication: March 2010
