Geriatric Medicine

This book provides a timely and authoritative synopsis of the current state of anaesthesia and the elderly patient at a time when the challenge of caring for the growing numbers of elderly patients is probably the greatest faced by healthcare across the globe. The book reviews important developments in the understanding of clinical practice serving the elderly. It describes the need for anaesthesia to deliver ‘best care’ to the elderly, with the aim to maintain their independent living. It then details the key features of ageing and the effect these have on physiology and pharmacology. Specific aspects of practice, including preoperative assessment; day surgery; emergency surgery; anaesthesia for orthopaedic, urological, and gynaecological surgery, as well as major abdominal surgery; neurosurgery; and critical care. Emphasis is placed on managing postoperative care and cognitive dysfunction (POCD), with additional discussion of ethical issues and the law pertaining to the elderly patient. A new chapter reviews the challenges of treating elderly patients in non-theatre environments.Less

This resource provides a concise, up-to-date and easy accessible guide to managing the elderly patient with cardiovascular disease.

The Casebook of Clinical Geropsychology describes current best practice in managing complex cases involving common mental health issues in later life in the field of psychology concerned with the psychological, behavioral, biological, and social aspects of aging.Less

This book is intended to target a broad audience of clinicians, clinical researchers, students in geriatrics and gerontology fields, and family caregivers of older adults interested in complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine. It provides an update on recent research in integrative medicine used for the treatment and prevention of mental, cognitive, and physical disorders of aging. The content of this book will increase clinicians’ familiarity with recent research findings in the field of integrative medicine, and will broaden their understanding of the use of these interventions in clinical practice. The discussion of the data is provided in textbook format, covering different fields of integrative medicine and written by an international group of opinion leaders and researchers in their respective areas of expertise; thus this work can be used for training by students of integrative medicine and gerontology. Individual chapters can be used as references on a particular topic for interested individuals and can be obtained online. Clinicians and researchers who are dedicated to the treatment and study of older adults might consider this volume an essential part of their library.Less

This resource follows the pathway of dementia, from first presentation through to final stages of the illness, and is aimed at the multipdisciplinary care team.

Depression affects between 10-15% of older people, making it the most frequently encountered mental health condition in later life. Despite this, the condition is easily missed in clinical practice or not adequately treated. Part of the Oxford Psychiatry Library, this second edition of Depression in Later Life highlights areas of depression which are of special relevance to later life, how to diagnose depression in an older person, the overlap with dementia and various other physical illnesses, and important pharmacological and psychological considerations. All chapters have been updated with new data where relevant, and case vignettes are included to ensure this resource is relatable and easy to understand.Less

Geriatric medicine: an evidence based approach is an online clinical reference for health care professionals who manage older patients, and summarizes up-to-date research literature in a style that can be directly applied by busy healthcare professionals and provide a useful resource for reference. Because people are living longer and the population over the age of 60 is burgeoning, there are repercussions for health services and healthcare expenditure in developed countries. This online resource covers disease aetiology, diagnosis, and treatment specific to older people, and how they differ from those of the general adult population. Additionally, it covers the complicated co-morbidities older people often have and how they respond to treatment in different ways compared to younger people. It also addresses how evidence of efficacy of different treatments is often lacking because older people are under-represented in clinical trials. Less

The growing geriatric population has created an increasing need for palliative medicine services across the range of medical and surgical specialties, but palliative medicine lacks the resources to carry such a workload itself. This online resource addresses this need by encouraging individual specialties to address the management of the elderly with the same vigor as they address other key management competencies within their specialty. This clinically focused online resource encourages this process of learning and ownership across many medical specialties. It outlines specific strategies present is specific palliative care issues common in elderly patients, and also provides evidence-based advice for helping patients, relatives, and staff cope with such issues as polypharmacy, dementia and consent, multiple pathologies, home care, elderly caregivers, and supporting the elderly in the place where they would like to be.Less

The Gerontological Imagination provides an integrative overview of the scientific study of aging. Although investigators from many disciplines study aging, concerns have been raised about the intellectual coherence of gerontology precisely because it draws from and contributes to a wide array of disciplines. Biologists, psychologists, and sociologists may claim an interest in gerontology, but do they have a common image of aging or a set of principles to guide their research? This book develops a paradigm for the study of aging by articulating and integrating six axioms related to causality, life course analysis, multifaceted change, heterogeneity, accumulation, and ageism. The proposed paradigm provides an efficient way to identify essential ideas, findings, models, and theories across multiple disciplines. Gerontology examines aging across multiple systems and the interplay of factors that shape adaptation. Illustrations are drawn from fields such as biology, epidemiology, genetics, medicine, psychology, sociology, and zoology. The axioms are best viewed as a gestalt for the intellectual work of research on aging—and how to optimize the aging experience.Less

This book is a detailed, evidence-based reference on the field of integrative geriatric medicine. It is intended for all healthcare providers and advocates who work with the geriatric population—in outpatient settings and nursing homes, assisted and independent living facilities, and senior community centers. In addition, it will provide valuable information for leaders and politicians who are involved with implementing policies and procedures for the care of elderly patients and who are looking for safer, less costly, and more patient-centered approaches. Integrative geriatrics is a new field of medicine that advocates for a whole-person, patient-centered, primarily non-pharmacological approach to medical care of the elderly. Most current geriatric practices overprescribe medications and procedures and underutilize non-pharmacological, low-cost, high-touch methods. Patients, however, often show reluctance toward these standard practices because they often involve invasive interventions. The practice of integrative geriatrics is rooted in lifestyle interventions, such as nutrition, movement therapies, and mind-body and spirituality approaches, that allow patients to take a different path to their health, one that utilizes pharmaceuticals and invasive procedures only when safer integrative approaches are not available or not effective.Less

The cases in this volume have been selected to show the spectrum of acute medicine in older patients. These are often with atypical or non-specific presentations, on a background of complex co-morbidity and the attendant management and ethical dilemmas. The format follows that of other books in the series: case descriptions with questions followed by answers including detailed discussion of the diagnosis, treatment, and management dilemmas including ethical and holistic aspects of care. This structure was chosen as it is very difficult to illustrate the practical process of clinical management through a conventional textbook format. The authors believe it is more interesting and educational to consider real cases and one’s own management plan, than to read a text that does not require the same interactive effort on the part of the reader.Less

This resource provides an evidence-based guide for both trainees and consultants in geriatric medicine and those interested in geriatric medicine. Designed in line with the core Royal College curriculum, it provides a comprehensive and relevant guide to the issues seen in everyday geriatric medicine practice across the world. Less

The Oxford Handbook of Geriatric Medicine includes all the information required to deliver effective geriatric care. It covers a range of key treatment areas, indicating where practice differs from that of younger adults or is ill informed by evidence and where dangers lurk for the inexperienced clinician, and the many ethical and clinical dilemmas common in geriatric practice. A practical, accessible, and essential guidance for all junior doctors and specialist trainees in geriatric and general internal medicine, and for all medical and nursing staff who manage older people.Less

Concentrating on the knowledge and skills needed by nurses working with older people, this is an invaluable source of information for both student and practising nurses. Acting as both a reference guide and support in everyday clinical decision-making, it is written by experienced nurses and contains a wealth of guidance and information.Less

This resource provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of all aspects of anaesthesia for the elderly patient looking at the effect of ageing on the systems of the body and the role that age has on drug mechanisms. Designed for both consultants and trainees who care for elderly patients, chapters address the clinical management of the older patient in pain, trauma, intensive care as well as anaesthesia for all aspects of surgery. The expert author team use their experience to provide a practical and stimulating resource which informs everyday clinical activity and explores the unanswered questions which face anaesthetists in this changing patient population. Less

The 3^rd Edition of The Oxford Textbook of Geriatric Medicine brings together specialists from across the globe to provide every physician and health care provider involved in the care of older people with a comprehensive resource on the medical, social, and psychological issues they are likely to encounter in their practice and research. Beyond these issues, this comprehensive text provides insights into global population ageing, ageing-relevant policy developments, healthy ageing, lifecourse, multimorbidity, personalised and person-centred care. New material has been added throughout with a strong focus on integrating the impact of age-related physiological and cellular changes with the development of age-related diseases and conditions. Sections on sarcopenia, nutritional health, frailty and related geriatric syndromes have been expanded. Geriatric care principles from public health, primary and specialized care have also been updated and expanded. New models of care in general medicine and surgery and related sub-specialties, outpatient and emergency care, rehabilitation, oncology, palliative medicine and long-term care relevant to older adults are discussed in detail. In summary, the 3^rd Edition of The Oxford Textbook of Geriatric Medicine 3e articulates important new global demographic trends and clinical practice patterns, the scientific basis of age-related diseases and conditions, and the ethical, legal, and socioeconomic concerns for healthcare policy and systems relevant to older adults around the globe.Less

Pain in older people is both common and disabling, and differs significantly in terms of its aetiology, diagnosis and treatment from pain in the general adult population. This online resource is a concise companion for anyone managing older patients suffering with pain and covers areas such as depression, pain and addiction and assessment.Less