On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to
visit the St. Christopher's Hospice.
We attended lectures provided by the
geriatricians that worked at the Hospice and we spent time
talking to some of the patients there. The Hospices in
Scotland are funded through both the government and through
private donations and historically have served to support
cancer patients who are facing imminent death. It was
interesting to observe the differences in the health care
systems in Scotland versus the United States through this
experience.
We are now focusing on completing our
research projects at the Astley Ainsley hospital. This
hospital has several different wards that serve elderly
patients following orthopaedic surgery and other wards that
provide palliative care. Amanda is examining the prevalence,
diagnosis and treatment of depression in elderly men and
women following orthopaedic surgery. She has been doing
chart reviews, geriatric depression screenings, and has been
attending clinical case conferences where she discusses her
results with the patient’s attending physicians. Rachel is
examining the differences in palliative care in Scotland and
the United States. She has been researching the treatments
patients are receiving for pain and other contributing
symptoms such as nausea, bed sores, etc. She has found that
the even the definition of palliative care is different in
Scotland.
Although we have been diligently
working on our research, we have found some time during the
weekends to explore the city. We have visited Edinburgh
Castle, walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens, and have
hiked Arthur’s Seat to see a wonderful view of the city. We
also managed to take a weekend trip to Dublin, Ireland where
we visited James Joyce monument, the Four Courts Building,
The Guinness Brewery and the U2 memorial to name a few. We
are planning on taking another weekend trip this weekend to
the Highlands region of Scotland where we will visit the
city of Sterling, in which Braveheart was filmed, Inverness,
and Loch Ness.
This has been an amazing opportunity
for us to learn about another health care system while
studying the geriatric population. We truly appreciate your
help and will keep you posted about the results of our
research projects.
Thanks!
Amanda and Rachel
