Socio-Gerontological Assessment Tool for the Geriatrics service and development of practical skills among students

Introduction: The increase in life expectancy and the aging of the population indicates new social needs and opportunities. The inadequate design of socio-gerontological assessment according to the shortcomings of the elderly in a multidisciplinary team in the context of micro and macro social problems is the main interest of this research. Objective: To validate a socio-gerontological assessment tool for the Geriatrics Service and the development of practical skills among students. Material and Methods: Mixed, descriptive and cross-sectional research study conducted in the Geriatrics Service of the "Arnaldo Milián Castro" hospital in Santa Clara (2020-2022). The population consisted of 1 830 older adults, and the sample was composed of 538 individuals that were selected by simple random sampling. A nominal group of specialists was used to validate the content, using the Crombach's alpha statistical method. Results: The results show that 52% of patients were female, 67.3% aged 60-79 years, 61.3% were involved in out-of-hospital bronchopneumonia at hospital admission, 40.1% were married, 76.4% had 1-2 children, 33.1% were deprived, 28.3% were lonely, 12.9% were unable to care, 8.2% were involved in family conflicts, 2.9% were mistreated, 79% were living at home, 80.1% had adequate social relationships, 81.8% were incorporated into social organizations, 27.1% had caregivers, 78.3% had independent ABVD, 63.4% had independent IADC, 43.3% had a psycho-cognitive state, 33.6% had an affective state, and 23.2% had an emotional state. Conclusions: A tool for socio-gerontological assessment was validated by the multidisciplinary team as a didactic strategy for the development of practical skills in students of the Geriatrics course.