Benchmark - Evidenced-Based Practice (EBP) Summary

Evidence-based Practice Case Summary – Geriatric Care
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August 2, 2018
Introduction
As of July 1, 2015, reports from the United States Census Bureau states that the geriatric population (individuals aged 65 and above) accounts for almost 14.9% of the total US population CITATION Uni17 \l 13321 (United States Census Bureau, 2017). While this number is less than compared to other developed countries, it is apparent that the quantity and quality of infrastructures and support systems for this segment of the population have still some flaws. Such an example of these systems that could be further improved is the provision of care for geriatric trauma patients. In the article written by Brooks and Peetz (2017), entitled Evidence-based Care for Geriatric Trauma Patients, the two authors have discussed about the paramount importance of increasing the quality of healthcare for the whole geriatric population due their high probability of incurring injuries (e.g. fractures from falls). This is because because as an individual ages, a “progressive decline in cellular function [occurs] which leads to a loose of their capacity to respond to injury CITATION Llo17 \l 13321 (Llompart-Pou, Pérez-Bárcena, Chico-Fernández, Sánchez-Casado, & Raurich, 2017). This is notwithstanding the current estimates that show that geriatric population is constantly increasing in the past decade, posing a challenge for the whole US healthcare system CITATION Bro17 \l 13321 (Brooks & Peetz, 2017). In line with this, the suceeding sections of this article would discuss the EBP proposed by Brooks and Peetz. This includes the development of such method as well as the its importance for its benefits and importance towards the improvement of the whole US healthcare system. Nonetheless, the author of this article believes that (just like Brooks and Peetz argued) the frailty of the healthcare system in treating geriatric trauma patients is due to the failures of policy making and administrative decisions, rather than budget or the capability of healthcare professionals to provide care for these patients.
Evidence-based Practice Development
In the article mentioned above, the authors have focused on the use of evidences gathered from government census and statistics provided by independent companies to be able to assess the current status and capabilities of the healthcare system reagarding elderly care. One of the data taken from the United States Census Bureau suggest that the increase in this segment of the population “is unlike any that has ever occurred before” CITATION Bro17 \l 13321 (Brooks & Peetz, 2017). However, despite the knowledge of the need to improve these systems, a survey of both the evidences would show that geriatic patients who have incurred severe trauma are usually “under-triaged” most of the time (Llompart-Pou, et al., 2017). Thus, in cases of emergencies, where they need assitance, designation toward...