Physical and mental health are key elements for a quality life, and as such they require control and management. Elly Kleinman, Americare Companies founder and managing director, has been in the health care system for over 35 years. As he explains, apart from the standard assessment of the person’s physical and mental condition, before entering the geriatric system of institutional care, each person needs to have evaluated his complete health status, functional ability in relation to independent physical movement, pharmacotherapy, the risk of falling, the risk of developing pressure sores, weight, hydration, mental state, any existence of pain and so on. This health state is checked regularly and in appropriate periods. The same rule applies to other forms of care as well, such as nursing homes, foster care, or living in their own homes, where there are other people like family members or medicine staff that need to worry about the user’s activities.

As Elly Kleinman informs, the health care plan for each geriatric care user is prepared individually, to suit the user’s needs, made after his health and cognitive situation, of course in consultation with the user or his/hers administrators. Health care is offered according to the medicine staff decision. The wide spectrum of needs of the elderly, range from very scarce to extensive, depending on the user’s state of health, social status and other factors. In the process of monitoring the quality of care, it is important to cover the most common needs which are also covered by the specific care standards, with the minimum set of indicators.

Depression is quite common among the elderly. Depression is a complex diagnosis which is diagnosed by a specialist. If the depression is developed during the care process, symptoms of functional depression are recognized as negative statements and behavior, agitation or refusal of care services, mood changes, being drowsy and sleeping all day, thinking about death or suicidal behavior, weight loss. Elly Kleinman points out that any of these symptoms may be an alarming sign, and the appropriate thing to do is to call a specialist that would perform the examination and reach a diagnosis. This is one of the important things that will enable Americare Companies patients carry on with ageing gracefully. Cognitive disorders are also relatively common among the older population and may develop during their stay in such facility, or even at home. They can be identified by symptoms such as reduced ability to make decisions, or temporary and occasional memory disorders.