In view of population aging, more older persons are being admitted to acute hospitals. However, the level of care that older people receive is suboptimal. Nurses' negative attitudes and inadequate level of knowledge strongly influence the level of care. The study sought to explore medical and surgical nurses' knowledge and attitudes related to…

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to understand better the clinical collaboration process among primary care physicians (PCPs), case managers (CMs), and geriatricians in integrated models of care. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study with semistructured interviews. A purposive sample of 35 PCPs, 7 CMs, and 4 geriatricians was selected in…

Purpose: To demonstrate the feasibility of the BRIGHTEN Program (Bridging Resources of an Interdisciplinary Geriatric Health Team via Electronic Networking), an interdisciplinary team intervention for assessing and treating older adults for depression in outpatient primary and specialty medical clinics. The BRIGHTEN team collaborates "virtually"…

Previous research has been conducted regarding preferences of physicians for life-sustaining treatments for themselves, but there is a dearth of data on personal use of advance directives (ADs) by geriatricians specifically. Using a phone survey, we contacted all graduates of the geriatric fellowship program to assess their personal use of advance…

Medical care in nursing homes is not provided by board-licensed geriatricians; it mainly comes from physicians in need of educational programs in the field of geriatrics. Such programs, based on curriculum guidelines, should be developed. The purpose of this study was to seek input from nursing home physicians on their perceived needs for training…

Examined knowledge of geriatric health policies of 154 physicians training in medicine, surgery, and psychiatry. Found a widespread lack of knowledge that could interfere with physicians' ability to use the health care system appropriately for patients' benefit and to function effectively as a gatekeeper to health care utilization. (Author/ABL)

Surveyed a national sample of 416 hospitals to describe the range and frequency of services offered specifically for older adults and to identify characteristics of hospitals associated with particular services. The findings show that hospitals of all types throughout the nation offer a broad array of health and related social services for older…

Survey of sample of members and nine-month study of all members of comprehensive geriatric program at one hospital revealed that surveyed members joined the program for its reasonable cost but continued with it because of good health care. Medical care and no claim forms or bills were two services surveyed members valued and used more. (Author/NB)

Evaluated medical services for elderly members in Social Health Maintenance Organization (SHMO) demonstrations. SHMOs generally failed to offer special geriatric medical services to frail elderly, and coordination of SHMO medical services with special long-term care and case management services offered by SHMOs was limited. (Author/NB)

Evaluated medical residents and discovered that although they considered detection and treatment of comorbid depression to be important, they knew few of the diagnostic criteria and etiological factors, rarely screened patients for depression and viewed current treatments as only marginally efficacious. Discusses implications for graduate…

Evaluated 150 geriatric medical inpatients for psychological dysfunction. Found 27.3 percent of subjects had at least one psychological disorder and 15.3 percent of total sample had a depressive disorder. Comorbid depression was associated with greatest level of psychological distress and dysfunction, and with poorest physical health status.…

Reviewed 273 medical records and interviewed 42 referring physicians to examine effectiveness of geriatric day hospital (GDH). Found that GDH provided intensive outpatient care, geriatric assessment, rehabilitation, and alternative to hospitalization: 21 percent of physician-referred patients would have been hospitalized without GDH, 7 percent…

Examined models for predicting treatment decisions of physicians, nurses, and social workers within acute and long-term care settings. Elicited treatment choices to vignettes regarding decisions to allocate scarce medical resource and to withhold treatment from debilitated patient. Primarily medical factors predicted decision to allocate…

These proceedings from the second conference on the Epidemiology of Aging sponsored by the National Institutes of Health indicate the direction of recent research and concern in this area. Attempts are made to formulate a definition of aging other than that of chronological age. A number of biomedical correlates of aging are addressed, including…

Comparison of opinions of residents in two programs providing different amounts of geriatric training concerning management of four geriatric and two traditional internal medicine problems found all had less confidence about geriatric than traditional problems. Students with more training offered more support for nondiscriminatory care of elderly…