Diagnostic testing and treatment are determined based on ability to improve disease process or quality of life/goals of care.

Mentation is one of the 4Ms of an Age-Friendly healthcare system.

In 2017, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the John A Hartford Foundation (JAHF), the American Hospital Association (AHA), and the Catholic Health Association (CHA) of the United States addressed the development of age-friendly health systems using a clinical framework to improve the complex care of older adults.

These organizations defined and operationalized age-friendly care following the guidelines of beneficence, evidence-based medicine, and patient/family aligned goals and concerns. The 4M Framework was the result: What Matters Most, Mentation, Mobility, and Medication.  A 5^th M is sometimes incorporated to include Multi-Morbidity, which calls attention to the multiple, often inter-related, health problems that many older adults face.

Older adults may have fewer options for transportation to medical appointments. Telemedicine (telephone or audio-visual communication) can improve patient health, lower healthcare costs, reduce wait times, reach a broader geographic region, and limit unnecessary exposures of patients to infection.

“Caregiver burden” is a multifaceted concept that encompasses the physical, psychological, social, and financial strain experienced when caring for a loved one over time.¹

Humans are social beings and connections to others are vital to our health and well-being. Social isolation (i.e., the objective absence or paucity of social interactions with others) is a social determinant of health which is related to, but distinct from, the concept of loneliness (i.e., the subjective distressing feeling of being socially isolated).^1,2

Good communication with older adults and their caregivers is important to delivering high quality care.

Depression in older adults, even major depression, is treatable. 

Identify and define inappropriate sexual behavior (ISB) in the context of a patient with dementia.

Identify and define treatment strategies for geriatric insomnia patients.

How will a home safety evaluation benefit your geriatric patient?