Internal diseases in the approach of the chronically ill

More than 89% of people over the age of 65 have them chronic health problem. By 2035, it is estimated that 1 in 4 people in Spain will be of this age. Hence the importance they have and above all will have, specialized health professionals when it meets the needs of this type of patient. “The ability to integrate the training, experience and vision of young internists will be one of the cornerstones of the specialty of internal medicine,” says Boehringer Ingelheim.

In this context, the ninth edition of the Comprehensive Meeting of Chronic Patients organized by the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI), which focuses on evaluating the current clinical panorama of chronicity, as well as providing tools to internists for the comprehensive management of chronic patients. And it is that the conditions of pluripathology and advanced age, which many of them present, require an effort of skills and cooperation between professionals to face the challenge of a comprehensive approach.

In the words of the coordinator of the SEMI working group for multipathological and elderly patients, Dr. Pilar Kubo Romano“the health system, not the patient, must adapt to offer the best care and avoid harm to the patient himself”.

Thus, “ cooperation with other servicesthrough interdisciplinary teams and, above all, a close and permanent relationship with primary care, is the key to keeping complex chronic patients in their place of residence as long as possible, bringing health care closer to the patient’s home,” says an expert.

“The complex chronic patient is becoming more common due to the increasing aging of the population and exposure to unhealthy lifestyle habits”

“It is important that internists integrate into their daily practice performing a global multidimensional assessment and plan of care agreed with the patient and his family. That they have flexibility in care and know and participate in implementing alternatives to conventional hospitalization. And also that they acquire digital skills that ensure integrated patient responses and well-ordered processes, improving accessibility, communication between areas, as well as the ability to connect with patients through non-face-to-face systems,” says Dr. Kubo.

INTERNAL MEDICINE, CHRONICLE REFERENCE

As Boehringer Ingelheim advocates, internal medicine consultation is considered the reference for chronic patients and therefore training and expanding clinical skills for current and future generations of healthcare professionals is “essential”. With this current philosophy and as a sign of hers commitment to chronicityBoehringer Ingelheim supports this annual meeting to continue the pursuit of the ultimate goal of improving care for complex chronic patients.

Head of Medical Affairs, Boehringer Ingelheim, Aranta Garciacommented that “the complex chronic patient is becoming more common due to the increasing aging of the population and the exposure to unhealthy lifestyle habits that are changing patterns of multimorbidity and disease patterns. This is a common patient profile in internal medicine services, but at the same time unique in that its comorbidities require special attention from the internist, which is rarely reflected in clinical guidelines. It is currently estimated that up to 61% of hospitalized patients have this profile and that even 50% of admissions may be due to decompensated pathologies of complex chronic patients“.

It is important that we continue to celebrate these days because they stand as “an opportunity to bring closer the scientific exchange between internists, always with the patient in focus and with the aim of improving the approach to his co-morbidities. “We at Boehringer Ingelheim are very proud to continue to contribute to these types of meetings, which aim to contribute to the scientific update of healthcare professionals to ensure that patients receive the best possible care,” concludes Garcia.

Because health we all need… ConSalud.es