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We are looking for a second fellowship-trained Geriatrician to join our amazing rural Upstate New York community.
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The more older adults, and their caregivers, know about their health, the better they fare. Studies have found, for example, that well-informed patients are more likely to follow their healthcare providers’ recommendations and are better able to manage chronic health problems.
Increasingly, older adults and their caregivers are turning to the Internet for health information. According to a nationwide Pew Internet & American Life Project survey, the number of Americans age 65 and older using the Internet jumped 47% between 2000 and 2004—when nearly 1 in 4 was going online. Among Web use
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has the difficult, if not impossible, task of implementing the laws governing Medicare. CMS’s philosophy in developing the regulations has been to look at the overall well-being of the program. Unfortunately, in doing so, individual patients who exist at the extremes often suffer. Medicare Part D and the effect of this program on nursing home residents is a clear example of this problem.
As is often the case, the needs of long-term care (LTC) residents were not considered in the drafting of Medicare Part D legislation. States had viewed
An orthosis is an orthopedic appliance or apparatus used to support, align, prevent, or correct deformities, or to improve the function of movable parts of the body.1 (In contrast, an assistive device is more specifically a device like a walker, wheelchair, cane, or crutches used to compensate for a physical limitation.2) With improvements in trauma care, more victims of catastrophic events are surviving to live with disabilities.3 Life expectancy is increasing, so increasing numbers of older adults are facing their later years with disabling sequelae of disease or trauma. Along with this rise
INTRODUCTION
Similar to most other health care providers, surgeons are seeing an increasing proportion of elderly patients in their practices. Furthermore, this patient population is more likely to require operations. Patients age 65 and older currently account for approximately 60% of the average general surgeon’s work.1 The growth in general surgery over the next decade is expected to outpace the population growth due to a large increase in the number of older Americans. In specialties that care for a greater proportion of elderly patients, such as ophthalmology, urology, and cardiothoracINTRODUCTION
Research has shown that for every dollar spent on pharmaceuticals, another dollar is spent to manage drug-related problems, costing Americans living in the United States approximately $104.2 billion annually.1-3 The elderly account for 12.7% of the U.S. population, but consume 34% of total prescription medication and 40% of all over-the-counter medicine.4-6 Inappropriate medication use may lead to increased health care services, including physician visits, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations.2 Polypharmacy (use of one or more unnecessary medications)7,8 in older aduCASE PRESENTATION
A 91-year-old widowed woman was under the care of a home health agency’s long-term program for skilled nursing care, physical therapy, and home attendant services. She was a native of Puerto Rico and spoke both English and Spanish. After several months of home care, the patient’s primary nurse became concerned about persistent depression, and referred the patient to the behavioral health division of the agency for evaluation.A social worker saw the patient in her home and agreed that she appeared depressed and withdrawn. A psychiatric consultation was requested thr
This issue of Clinical Geriatrics includes a CME article on “Oral Infections in the Elderly,” the second part of a series written by Kenneth Shay, DDS, MS. Primary care physicians caring for the older person must take responsibility for the “whole” patient, and this includes an appropriate history and thorough exami
nation of the oral cavity. Few medical schools include a significant curriculum regarding the oral environment; most physicians believe that this area of the body is better left to the dental expert. While specific problems that are identified may indeed require a dental
Clinical Geriatrics Blogs
Coming in Future Issues of Clinical Geriatrics
Series: Diabetes in the Elderly
Series: Cancer in Older Adults
First Report® Conference Coverage: American Academy of Neurology, American Diabetes Association, 2010 Digestive Disease Week
Assessment and Classification of Pain in the Elderly Patient
Pharmacologic Management of Pain in Older Patients
Miscellaneous Pain Syndromes in Older Adults
Nonhernia Causes of Inguinal Pain in the Elderly
