Some non-medical services can be crucial to overall health. Geriatric teams have long recognized that frail elderly need more than medical care to remain independent and possibly prevent disease or injury. Non-medical services include home safety visits to prevent falls and other injuries, nutritional assessments, social interventions, and communication about feelings of depression and isolation. The patient's family should be involved from the start. Spouses and children are an integral part of the informal care network.
Medication management is extremely important .
Older people can take several different medications each day, and often there is confusion about taking the right medicine in the correct dosage at the appropriate time of the day. Teams routinely monitor medication use to eliminate unnecessary medications, select alternatives with fewer side-effects or alter certain combinations since the interactions could render the drugs ineffective or even harmful. Teams can coordinate care across different sites . Geriatric teams coordinate care of the elderly across a variety of sites, including care in the patient's home, primary care settings, clinics for the frail elderly and in the hospital. Coordination is crucial since the elderly often have chronic, complex conditions.