In a needs assessment of 84 rural health care professionals (44.1% physicians, 15.5% pharmacists, 14.3% nurses, 26.1% other), 39% considered their geriatrics knowledge above average. They were interested in learning more about Alzheimer's/dementia, medication use, and adverse effects. Preferred methods were videotapes, CD-ROM, and an…

Most of the world's rapidly expanding aging population is in rural areas of developing countries. Geriatric training programs should include social, economic, and psychological aspects of aging as well as medical, and should focus on enabling primary health caregivers to care for older people in their environments. Efforts to provide rural…