- Section 1 Ageing population and policy
- Section 2 Key concepts in care of older adults
- Section 3 Principles and organization of care
- Chapter 30 Integrating geriatrics principles into primary care
- Chapter 31 Clinical interventions in home care
- Chapter 32 Geriatric patients in the emergency department
- Chapter 33 Critical illness and intensive care
- Chapter 34 Older people presenting to acute care hospitals
- Chapter 35 Post-acute care and intermediate care
- Chapter 36 Preoperative assessment and perioperative management
- Chapter 37 Long-term care
- Chapter 38 Dementia specialist care units
- Chapter 39 Transitions between care settings until death
- Section 4 Age-related biological changes, altered physiology, and vulnerability to diseases and chronic conditions
- Section 5 Geriatric syndromes in clinical practice
- Section 6 Nutrition and metabolism
- Section 7 Mobility disorders: prevention, impact, and compensation
- Section 8 Infections in older adults: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 9 Cancer: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 10 Vascular diseases: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 11 Neurological disorders: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 12 Cognitive decline and dementia in older adults: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 13 Mental health of older adults
- Section 14 Management of common medical conditions: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 15 Palliative medicine and end-of-life care
- Section 16 Healthy ageing
(p. 229) Geriatric patients in the emergency department
- Chapter:
- (p. 229) Geriatric patients in the emergency department
- Author(s):
Don Melady
and Barry J. Goldlist
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780198701590.003.0032
This chapter addresses strategies for closing the ‘quality gap’ between the needs of complex older patients presenting to an emergency department (ED) and what current EDs mostly provide. It reviews historical reasons that the current system often fails to address the multiple and multifactorial needs of an older person in the ED. It explores domains of care—complex and atypical presentations, an awareness of polymorbidity, polypharmacy, falls, cognitive impairment, and end-of-life issues—that are specific to the older ED patient. It suggests opportunities for quality improvement in the essential components of a senior-friendly ED, summarizing some of the changes to staffing, education, policies, procedures, and physical design that prioritize the needs of older patients. It identifies the importance of the ED’s role in the continuum of care and opportunities for improving transitions of care involving the ED.
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- Section 1 Ageing population and policy
- Section 2 Key concepts in care of older adults
- Section 3 Principles and organization of care
- Chapter 30 Integrating geriatrics principles into primary care
- Chapter 31 Clinical interventions in home care
- Chapter 32 Geriatric patients in the emergency department
- Chapter 33 Critical illness and intensive care
- Chapter 34 Older people presenting to acute care hospitals
- Chapter 35 Post-acute care and intermediate care
- Chapter 36 Preoperative assessment and perioperative management
- Chapter 37 Long-term care
- Chapter 38 Dementia specialist care units
- Chapter 39 Transitions between care settings until death
- Section 4 Age-related biological changes, altered physiology, and vulnerability to diseases and chronic conditions
- Section 5 Geriatric syndromes in clinical practice
- Section 6 Nutrition and metabolism
- Section 7 Mobility disorders: prevention, impact, and compensation
- Section 8 Infections in older adults: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 9 Cancer: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 10 Vascular diseases: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 11 Neurological disorders: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 12 Cognitive decline and dementia in older adults: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 13 Mental health of older adults
- Section 14 Management of common medical conditions: epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management
- Section 15 Palliative medicine and end-of-life care
- Section 16 Healthy ageing