GERIATRIC MEDICINE A PERSON CENTERED EVIDENCE BASED APPROACH

Both volumes are sold as a combined set for a one‑time purchase. Older adults represent the most rapidly growing demographic in the U.S. and in many developed countries around the world. The field of geriatric medicine is still relatively young and is only recently seeing a significant increase in peer‑reviewed literature. Medicare and Medicaid expenditures related to older adults are nearly a trillion dollars per year in the U.S. How our healthcare system cares for older adults, and how those older adults navigate an increasingly complex system, is of the utmost importance. According to the Institute of Medicine, physicians and other healthcare professionals receive an inadequate amount of training in geriatric medicine.

Geriatric medicine is based on the concept of delivering person‑centered care with a focus on function and quality of life. It is essential that physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, social workers, and other healthcare professionals be knowledgeable about the geriatric approach to care. While many specialties function on the basis of evidence‑based literature, geriatricians and other clinicians caring for older adults must integrate relatively limited evidence with variable physiological changes and complex psychosocial determinants. Geriatricians are used to caring for 90‑year‑olds with multiple chronic illnesses; their variable physiology leads to uncertain responses to pharmacotherapy, and their personal goals and wishes need to be incorporated into any plan of care. Practicing geriatric medicine requires the ability to see patterns, but the rules are constantly in flux. Every patient is an individual with particular needs and goals, and true person‑centered care demands that these factors be incorporated into the decision‑making process.

The proposed handbook is designed to present a comprehensive, state‑of‑the‑art update that incorporates existing literature with clinical experience. Basic science and the physiology of aging provide background, but each chapter is written through the lens of “person‑centered care.” The book focuses on what matters to the person, which is not always about pathology and physiology. Readers will not find simple solutions to symptoms, diseases, and syndromes; instead, the key to caring for geriatric patients is the ability to think both critically and divergently at the same time. Geriatrics encompasses multiple disciplines and spans all subspecialties, requiring knowledge of interdisciplinary teamwork, an appreciation of how quality of life varies with each individual, and a firm commitment to first learning who the person is so that all necessary data can be analyzed and integrated into a true person‑centered plan of care. Updated and revised from the previous edition, this text features over 40 new peer‑reviewed chapters, new references, and a wide array of useful new tools that are regularly updated by interdisciplinary and interprofessional experts in geriatric medicine.