Benefits of Geriatric Medicine Q&A

As the aging population grows, expertise in geriatric medicine has become more important. Geriatric medicine includes comprehensive assessment, evaluation, and management of older patients, is efficient in improving health, activity, and function. It also reduces morbidity, prevents hospital admission, and delays institutionalization.

Geriatrics accentuates helping aging adults maintain their capabilities and quality of life. This can be complex as people get older because people tend to accumulate health problems that are difficult to entirely cure or reverse.

Geriatrics is the branch of medicine that focuses on the promotion of well-being, prevention, analysis, and treatment of ailments and disability in older adults (above 60). In recent surveys, geriatric physicians are among the most satisfied medical providers in terms of their choice of specialty.

As people live longer and healthier lives, it is necessary to think about how we are growing older, how we are evolving to support more years of being well, and how we are working toward the needed healthcare system in the future. Geriatric healthcare professionals understand the inimitable health circumstances that come with aging. They also have expert training in collaborating with each other which is a critical asset. This is becoming more important than ever because more than half of aging Americans are dealing with two or more chronic conditions. Geriatricians work with older adults and their families involved in their care to help them make decisions affecting their healthcare.

Seniors could benefit from seeing a geriatric doctor if they have multifarious health issues like Alzheimer’s or dementia or feel they need extra attention to their health issues.

Geriatricians can dig deeper to find out if a problem is instigated by non-age-related illness or injury rather than just assuming it’s due to age. They are more experience with older bodies and generally more thorough so there is more confidence in an accurate diagnosis.

There are other benefits as well in that geriatric doctors pay more attention to their patients’ quality of life and what they want from their medical care.

They generally spend more time at each appointment and collect more information than a primary doctor would.

They ask about things such as the lifestyle, community, family, and medical history of their older patient.

Seniors and their families also benefit as geriatric doctors help figure out their priorities for healthcare by:

• Creating care plans
• Review and manage all medications
• Organize care with other health providers
• Provide palliative and end-of-life care
• In addition, knowing about distinctions between older bodies vs. middle-aged bodies helps geriatricians select treatments that work better for seniors.

They understand issues that commonly affect seniors such as falls, incontinence, muscle weakness, cognitive impairment, frailty, fatigue, and delirium which have a huge impact on quality of life.

Unfortunately, a lot of primary care doctors don’t spend enough time finding out about and solving issues that affect older adults.

There are so many benefits to seeing a geriatrician instead of an internal medicine doctor as stated above.

It stands to reason that an aging person experiencing any health issue could benefit from geriatric medicine. However, it goes much further than that. The family and people near and dear to their aging adult also benefit. Geriatric doctors can give the peace of mind that they all need. Dr. Nassar welcomes you to reach out and see how his geriatric expertise can provide the assurance and confidence that you or your aging loved one will get the care you need. Call us or schedule an appointment online at our geriatric clinic, or visit our clinic conveniently located at 255 Terracina Blvd, Suite 105 Redlands, CA 92373. We serve patients from Redlands CA, Loma Linda CA, Mentone CA, Highland CA, Moonlight Rim CA, Grand Terrace CA, El Casco CA, Greenspot CA, and surrounding areas.