Beyond the Standards of Health Care for the Elderly

Aim. The objective of the study was discussion of the important aspects of care for the elderly, to whom the standards of geriatric care do not apply.

Material and methods. In accordance with the designed goal, the analysis included selected literature concerning: the quality of health care standards for the elderly, complex model of geriatric care from the qualitative aspect, institutional care and psychological aspect of the seniors’ stage of life.

Results. Standards of care for the elderly differ from each other by the area they refer to and way and level of specificity of reports. The recommendations by the World Health Organization are very general, while the standards by the Polish team of geriatricians and gerontologists present very detailed recommendations. In turn, in the Charter for the Elderly, the authors draw attention to the fact that not only medical services influence the process of treatment of an elderly person, but also: economic, social, and family conditions in which he/she lives. Taking care for an elderly person by the family is an ideal solution. However, when this is not possible, this function is taken over by care institutions. The institutional care, as perceived by the elderly, should be a substitute of family life - this is a specific expression of the desire that the care for an elderly person should not be brought down to service, but should also consider the relational aspect of caring. Unfortunately, this aspect is relatively consequently omitted in standards. In relation to this absence, the relational aspect of care is handled more comprehensively in the presented article.