University of Minnesota
 A Geriatric Home Visit Experience

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Orientation Home PageHome Visit EtiquetteLIfe HistorySelf-Reported Functional AssessmentMental Status AssessmentMedication ReviewSpiritual AssessmentHealth Promotion Behavior AssessmentEnvironmental AssessmentObserved Functional AssessmentPhysical Examination

 

 

 

The key to our plan is to creatively use seniors as teachers to tap the wealth of experience and knowledge among elders to help faculty teach about successful, typical, and pathological aging.

student interviews seniorWelcome! This orientation is designed to prepare you for an in-home visit with an elder. The materials related to the buttons on the left will provide you with a structured protocol for the interview, recommended etiquette, communication techniques, and an introduction to seniors with varying age-related issues. Plan on spending 30 to 60 minutes studying the information prior to your scheduled visit. Continue reading the information below which provides instructions for downloading the interview guides, eductaional objectives to guide your learning, and technological requirements to ensure smooth operation of the multimedia files.

Interview Guides

You may print out the pages contained on this web site to serve as interview guides while visiting your senior. Or you may download and print worksheets available in Portable Document Format (PDF) by clicking the button below. The PDF file can be accessed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this software installed on your computer, the link above will take you to the Adobe web site to download the application free of charge.

Download Worksheets

Educational Objectives

Students will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate appropriate etiquette for interacting with an elderly person in his/her home.
  2. Take a history and perform a screening examination for dementia.
  3. Compile a medication list based upon observation.
  4. Describe services available to seniors in the high-rise setting.
  5. Perform a home-based assessment of safety.
  6. Perform an assessment of function, based upon both history and observation.
  7. Obtain information about a senior's life history, social interaction, and spiritual connections.
  8. Perform an assessment of a senior's health promotion behaviors.
Technology requirements

To take advantage of the viewing and listening files that are part of the orientation materials, you will need the following multimedia enabling software:

If you don't have the necessary software installed, the links above will take you to the sites to download the applications free of charge. The good news is that if your computer/browser is of recent vintage (within the last 2-3 years), you probably have what you need to play the video and audio files contained in the orientation. Please note, you may adequately prepare for your home visit without accessing the multimedia files.

After downloading the RealPlayer plug-in, test the installation by clicking once on the video button to play a short welcome by Dr. Edward Ratner (Project Director for the Seniors As Teachers Program). If the speed of your internet connection is not fast enough to access the video file in a reasonable amount of time, you may want to play the corresponding audio-only file.

Double clicking the buttons will send the popup media windows behind your browser window. If this happens, simply drag your browser window aside to retrieve or close the media windows.

Video [:31] Audio

Let's get started! Go to: Home Visit Etiquette
For content-related questions, please contact:
Edward Ratner, MD, Assistant Professor
Project Director Seniors as Teachers Program
University of Minnesota Academic Health Center
Department of Medicine
Mail Code 381 Mayo
420 Delaware Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
phone 612-624-1960, e-mail: ratne001@umn.edu
For web-related questions, please contact:
Patricia Rizzi, Instructional Designer
University of Minnesota Academic Health Center
phone: 612-624-6166, e-mail: rizzi001@umn.edu

Acknowledgements

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University of Minnesota Academic Health Center Seniors as Teachers Program

Date of last revision: December 17, 2001

© 2003 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota and the Academic Health Center. All rights reserved.

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