Geriatric Assessment: Enhancing Your Patient

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Geriatric AssessmentEnhancing Your Patients
Functional StatusEric J H Troyer, MDSixth
Annual Geriatric Medicine SymposiumSwedish
Medical CenterSeptember 13, 2002
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Clinic case

• Geriatric Assessment Outline
• Take Home Points
• 1. Routine assessment of the elderly is
  important.
• 2. It is quick easy to assess and intervene
  appropriately.
• 3. Standardized tools and algorithms exist.
• 4. You can incorporate elements of geriatric
  assessment into a routine office visit.
• 5. It is targeted at improving your patients
  function and quality-of-life.
• 6. It communicates your concern for your
  patients well-being.
• Introduction
• 1. Prevalence of geriatric syndromes in the
  community-dwelling elderly is high.
• 2. Geriatric Assessment Defined
• Multidimensional and systematic evaluation of
  your patient that focuses on actual abilities and
  function as well as common problems of the
  elderly. It has the goal of intervention and
  prevention.
• 3. Multiple Domains
• a. Physical health
• b. Mental health
• c. Functional status
• d. Social assessment

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Clinic case

• Geriatric Assessment Outline
• Take Home Points
• 1. Routine assessment of elderly is important.
• 2. It is quick easy to assess and intervene
  appropriately.
• 3. Standardized tools and algorithms exist. (in
  many formats, helps communicate severity and map
  progress/decline, validated instruments)
• 4. You can incorporate elements of geriatric
  assessment into a twenty-minute office visit.
• 5. Geriatric assessment is targeted at
  improvement in your patients function and QOL.
  (may be more important to your patients than
  diseases we as physicians normally focus)
• 6. It can communicate your concern for your
  patients well-being.
• Introduction
• 1. Prevalence of geriatric syndromes in the
  community-dwelling elderly
• a. 20 of those over 65 have ADL difficulties
• 2. Definition
• a. Multidimensional and systematic evaluation of
  your patient that focuses on actual abilities and
  function as well as common problems of the
  elderly.
• 3. Domains
• a. Physical health
• b. Mental health
• c. Functional status

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