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…

The objective of this study was to identify differences between geriatricians and hospitalists in caring for hospitalized older adults, so as to inform faculty development programs that have the goal of improving older patient care. Eleven hospitalists and 13 geriatricians were surveyed regarding knowledge, confidence, and practice patterns in…

Quality improvement (QI) initiatives are critical in the care of older adults who are more vulnerable to substandard care. QI education meets aspects of core Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education competencies and prepares learners for the rising focus on performance measurement in health care. The authors developed, implemented, and…

The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is one of the most commonly used instruments to screen for cognitive deficits within the hospital setting. However training in how to administer this widely used tool is scarce with little, if any, formal training for nursing staff. Scores are also often misused with over reliance on results and cut-offs to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an extracurricular geriatric program on medical students' knowledge of, and attitudes toward, the elderly and their interest in studying geriatric medicine. The participants were first-year medical students (n = 137) who joined the Senior Teacher Education Partnership (STEP) program that…

Medical graduates require positive attitudes toward older people with cognitive impairment, in addition to knowledge and skills in the diagnosis and management of dementia. The Student Training Project in Dementia (STriDE) project was conducted to ensure that these needs are met through curricula in Western Australian medical schools. Two medical…

Family physicians may lack discriminatory ability to differentiate normal aging form disease states. To assess such ability, 53 aging-related indicators or symptoms were presented to 65 physicians in 3 family practice residency programs. Respondents classified each symptom as normal aging or disease. On average, residents classified 73.4% of…