older people’s health issues
Continuity of Care
Introduction
Providing medical care to older people can be complicated. People often have many different health care practitioners at different locations. Travel and transportation issues become more difficult as people age. The medications that are covered by the Medicare prescription drug plan vary between insurance companies and change frequently. Assistance by a team of health care practitioners under the leadership of a primary care physician or a doctor who specializes in the care of older people (geriatrician) is the best way to deal with these complexities. Continuity of careis an ideal in which health care is provided for a person in a coordinated manner and without disruption despite all the complexities of the health care system and the involvement of different practitioners in different care settings. Also, all people involved in a person’s health care, including the person receiving care, communicate and work with each other to coordinate health care and to set goals for health care. However, continuity of care is not always easy to accomplish, especially in the United States, where the health care system is complicated and fragmented. When continuity of care is missing, people may not adequately understand their health care problems and may not know which practitioner to talk to when they have problems or questions. 