Allied Health provide a valuable addition to the GEDI service, providing a vital role in assisting older patients’ measurement of current function. Interdisciplinary decision making opportunities arise when information can be drawn from multiple sources to help both patients, their families and clinicians.
The Allied Health team works with GEDI staff to identify patients who will benefit from functional assessment, both within ED prior to discharge, or an inpatient referral once admitted. The Allied Health team can facilitate the older person’s return home, with either GEDI or Allied Health staff arranging assessments within the home environment. Allied Health involvement can extend to physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, dietetics and social work depending on the local service provision. This is recommended in The Silver Book (Cook et al., 2012) and the Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines (American College of Emergency Physicians, 2013.
