Co-Designing an Initiative to Increase Shared Access to Older Adults' Patient Portals: Stakeholder Engagement.

BACKGROUND: The patient portal is a widely available secure digital platform offered by care delivery organizations that enables patients to communicate electronically with clinicians and manage their care. Many organizations allow patients to authorize family members or friends-"care partners"-to share access to patient portal accounts, thus enabling care partners to receive their own identity credentials. Shared access facilitates trilateral information exchange among patients, clinicians, and care partners; however, uptake and awareness of this functionality are limited. OBJECTIVE: We partnered with 3 health care organizations to co-design an initiative that aimed to increase shared access registration and use and that can be implemented using existing patient portals. METHODS: In 2020, we undertook a rigorous selection process to identify 3 geographically diverse health care organizations that had engaged medical informatics teams and clinical champions within service delivery lines caring for older adults. We prioritized selecting organizations that serve racially and socioeconomically diverse populations and possess sophisticated reporting capabilities, a stable patient portal platform, a sufficient volume of older adult patients, and active patient and family advisory councils. Along with patients and care partners, clinicians, staff, and other stakeholders, the study team co-designed an initiative to increase the uptake of shared access guided by either an iterative, human-centered design process or rapid assessment procedures of stakeholders' inputs. RESULTS: Between February 2020 and April 2022, 73 stakeholder engagements were conducted with patients and care partners, clinicians and clinic staff, medical informatics teams, marketing and communications staff, and administrators, as well as with funders and thought leaders. We collected insights regarding (1) barriers to awareness, registration, and use of shared access; (2) features of consumer-facing educational materials to address identified barriers; (3) features of clinician- and staff-facing materials to address identified barriers; and (4) approaches to fit the initiative into current workflows. Using these inputs iteratively via a human-centered design process, we produced brochures and posters, co-designed organization-specific web pages detailing shared access registration processes, and developed clinician and staff talking points about shared access and staff tip sheets that outline shared access registration steps. Educational materials emphasized the slogan "People remember less than half of what their doctors say," which was selected from 9 candidate alternatives as resonating best with the full range of the initiative's stakeholders. The materials were accompanied by implementation toolkits specifying and reinforcing workflows involving both in-person and telehealth visits. CONCLUSIONS: Meaningful and authentic stakeholder engagement allowed our deliberate, iterative, and human-centered co-design aimed at increasing the use of shared access. Our initiative has been launched as a part of a 12-month demonstration that will include quantitative and qualitative analysis of registration and use of shared access. Educational materials are publicly available at Coalition for Care Partners.

Caring for Unbefriended Older Adults and Adult Orphans: A Clinician Survey.

Objectives: Unbefriended older adults are those who lack the capacity to make medical decisions and do not have a completed advance directive that can guide treatment decisions or a surrogate decision maker. Adult orphans are those who retain medical decision-making capacity but are at risk of becoming unbefriended due to lack of a completed advance health care directive and lack of a surrogate decision maker. In a follow-up to the 2016 American Geriatrics Society (AGS) position statement on unbefriended older adults, we examined clinicians' experiences in caring for unbefriended older adults and adult orphans.Methods: Clinicians recruited through the AGS (N = 122) completed an online survey about their experiences with unbefriended older adults regarding the perceived frequency of contact, clinical concerns, practice strategies, and terminology; and also with adult orphans regarding the perceived frequency of contact, methods of identification, and terminology.Results: Almost all inpatient (95.9%) and outpatient (86.4%) clinicians in this sample encounter unbefriended older adults at least quarterly and 92.2% of outpatient clinicians encounter adult orphans at least quarterly. Concerns about safety (95.9%), medication self-management (90.4%), and advance care planning (86.3%) bring unbefriended older adults to outpatient clinicians' attention "sometimes" to "frequently." Prolonged hospital stays (87.7%) and delays in transitioning to end-of-life care (85.7%) bring unbefriended older adults to inpatient clinicians' attention "sometimes" to "frequently." Clinicians apply a wide range of practice strategies to these populations. Participants suggested alternative terminology to replace "unbefriended" and "adult orphan."Conclusions: This study suggests that unbefriended older adults are frequently encountered in geriatrics practice, both in the inpatient and outpatient settings, and that there is widespread awareness of adult orphans in the outpatient setting. Clinicians' awareness of both groups suggests avenues for intervention and prevention.Clinical Implications: Health care professionals in geriatric settings will likely encounter older adults in need of advocates. Clinicians, attorneys, and policymakers should collaborate to improve early detection and to meet the needs of this vulnerable population.

Individual versus interprofessional team performance in formulating care transition plans: A randomised study of trainees from five professional groups.

Health professions trainees' performance in teams is rarely evaluated, but increasingly important as the healthcare delivery systems in which they will practice move towards team-based care. Effective management of care transitions is an important aspect of interprofessional teamwork. This mixed-methods study used a crossover design to randomise health professions trainees to work as individuals and as teams to formulate written care transition plans. Experienced external raters assessed the quality of the written care transition plans as well as both the quality of team process and overall team performance. Written care transition plan quality did not vary between individuals and teams (21.8 vs. 24.4, respectively, p = 0.42). The quality of team process did not correlate with the quality of the team-generated written care transition plans (r = -0.172, p = 0.659). However, there was a significant correlation between the quality of team process and overall team performance (r = 0.692, p = 0.039). Teams with highly engaged recorders, performing an internal team debrief, had higher-quality care transition plans. These results suggest that high-quality interprofessional care transition plans may require advance instruction as well as teamwork in finalising the plan.

Primary Care of the Prostate Cancer Survivor.

This summary of the American Cancer Society Prostate Cancer Survivorship Care Guidelines targets primary care physicians who coordinate care of prostate cancer survivors with subspecialists. Prostate cancer survivors should undergo prostate-specific antigen screening every six to 12 months and digital rectal examination annually. Surveillance of patients who choose watchful waiting for their prostate cancer should be conducted by a subspecialist. Any hematuria or rectal bleeding must be thoroughly evaluated. Prostate cancer survivors should be screened regularly for urinary incontinence and sexual dysfunction. Patients with predominant urge incontinence symptoms, which can occur after surgical and radiation treatments, may benefit from an anticholinergic agent. If there is difficulty with bladder emptying, a trial of an alpha blocker may be considered. A phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor can effectively treat sexual dysfunction following treatment for prostate cancer. Osteoporosis screening should occur before initiation of androgen deprivation therapy, and patients treated with androgen deprivation therapy should be monitored for anemia, metabolic syndrome, and vasomotor symptoms. Healthy lifestyle choices should be encouraged, including weight management, regular physical activity, proper nutrition, and smoking cessation. Primary care physicians should be vigilant for psychosocial distress, including depression, among prostate cancer survivors, as well as the potential impact of this distress on patients' family members and partners.

Professional development and exposure to geriatrics: medical student perspectives from narrative journals.

Teaching professionalism is an important goal in American medical education. With the aging of the U.S. population, it is critical to understand how medical students develop professional behaviors when caring for older adults. Exposure to geriatrics and older patients can enhance students' professional development with patients of all ages and across different specialties. Medical students learn explicit and implicit messages during their education. In addition to helping to evaluate curricula, reflective journaling encourages individual development and helps in revealing how medical students become professionals. In this study, medical student volunteers described their responses to new geriatrics content in their curriculum, encounters with older patients in clinical settings, and their evolving physician identities. Multidisciplinary team analysis elicited 10 themes regarding: evaluation of geriatrics within the curriculum, recognition of geriatrics principles, and attitudes regarding aging and professional development over time. This article focuses on the impact of geriatrics exposure on students' professional development, revealing ways that students think about professionalism and older patients. Medical educators should consider journaling to help foster and gauge students' professional development.

Student Preferences for Virtual or In-Person Interprofessional Education Simulations.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a shift in interprofessional education (IPE) courses, causing programs to change pedagogical approaches. We sought to examine student preferences for taking IPE simulations. On post-simulation surveys from two courses (n=844 students, 2020-2022 academic years), we asked students if they preferred to take the simulation through a synchronous in-person or virtual format. More students preferred a virtual platform in academic year 2021-2022 than the previous year (p<0.001). Students who chose the virtual format believed it was more convenient, reduced COVID-19 transmission, and eased interprofessional collaboration. The downsides to in-person simulations included travel logistics and technical challenges in the simulation lab. Students suggested that in-person simulations more closely resembled 'real life' and that communication and body language are easier to convey in person.

Impact of Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Centers: Incubators of innovation in geriatrics.

Since their inception in 1975, the Department of Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (GRECCs) have served as incubators of innovation in geriatrics. Their contributions to the VA mission were last reviewed in 2012. Herein, we describe the continuing impact of GRECCs in research, clinical, and educational areas, focusing on the period between 2018 and 2022. GRECC research spans the continuum from bench to bedside, with a growing research portfolio notable for highly influential publications. GRECC education connects healthcare professions trainees and practicing clinicians, as well as Veterans and their caregivers, to engaging learning experiences. Clinical advancements, including age-friendly care, span the continuum of care and leverage technology to link disparate geographical sites. GRECCs are uniquely positioned to serve older adults given their alignment with the largest integrated health system in the United States and their integration with academic health centers. As such, the GRECCs honor Veterans as they age by building VA capacity to care for the increasing number of aging Veterans seeking care from VA. GRECC advancements also benefit non-VA healthcare systems, their academic affiliates, and non-Veteran older adults. GRECCs make invaluable contributions to advancing geriatric and gerontological science, training healthcare professionals, and developing innovative models of geriatric care.

A Clinical Pharmacist-Led Transitions of Care Program for Veterans with Two Planned Care Transitions (Hospital to Skilled Care and Skilled Care to Home) amid the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Transitional care teams have been shown to improve patient safety. We describe a novel transitional care team with a clinical pharmacist as team leader initiated amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The program focused on Veterans with 2 planned transitions of care: hospital to skilled nursing facility (SNF) and from SNF to home. Ninety older Veterans were enrolled, and 79 medication errors and 80 appointment errors were identified. We conclude that a pharmacist-led program can improve safety in patients with 2 planned transitions of care.

Dying with dementia in nursing homes: A population-based study of decedents and their families.

BACKGROUND: Families play a critical role in end-of-life (EOL) care for nursing home (NH) residents with dementia. Despite the important role of family, little is known about the availability and characteristics of families of persons with dementia who die in NHs. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of 18,339 individuals 65 years and older with dementia who died in a Utah NH between 1998 and 2016, linked to their first-degree family (FDF) members (n = 52,566; spouses = 11.3%; children = 58.3%; siblings = 30.3%). Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and t-tests were used to describe the study cohort and their FDF members and to compare sociodemographic and death characteristics of NH decedents with (n = 14,398; 78.5%) and without FDF (n = 3941; 21.5%). RESULTS: Compared with NH decedents with FDF, NH decedents with dementia without FDF members were more likely to be older (mean age 86.5 vs 85.5), female (70.5% vs 59.3%), non-White/Hispanic (9.9% vs 3.2%), divorced/separated/widowed (84.4% vs 61.1%), less educated (<12th grade; 42.2% vs 33.7%), have Medicare and Medicaid (20.8% vs 12.5%), and die in a rural/frontier NH (25.0% vs 23.4%). NH decedents who did not have FDF were also more likely to die from cancer (4.2% vs 3.9%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; 3.9% vs 2.5%), and dementia (40.5% vs 38.4%) and were less likely to have 2+ inpatient hospitalizations at EOL (13.9% vs 16.2%), compared with NH decedents with FDF. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight differences in social determinants of health (e.g., sex, race, marital status, education, insurance, rurality) between NH decedents with dementia who do and do not have FDF-factors that may influence equity in EOL care. Understanding the role of family availability and familial characteristics on EOL care outcomes for NH residents with dementia is an important next step to informing NH dementia care interventions and health policies.

Preparing to care for an aging population: medical student reflections on their clinical mentors within a new geriatrics curriculum.

Reflective writing techniques such as journaling help provide insights into the process by which medical students are mentored and develop into practicing physicians. The authors sought to analyze medical students' journals regarding their mentored experiences within a new geriatrics curriculum at a U.S. medical school. Thirty preclinical and clinical medical student journalers participated in this project. The authors employed qualitative analytic techniques using an interdisciplinary team process. Three major themes emerged: (a) exposure to clinical mentors challenged medical students' preconceptions regarding older adults and geriatric medicine; (b) students learned new medical knowledge and techniques from observing their mentors; and (c) students provided positive and negative assessments of their mentors. Reflective journaling provides important insights into the process by which medical students draw upon mentored clinical experiences during their training. Such mentorship may be particularly relevant to promoting their interest in geriatrics.

Academic Health Centers and the Quintuple Aim of Health Care.

The Quintuple Aim of health care adds health equity to the existing Quadruple Aim of improving the individual experience of care for patients, improving the health of populations, reducing the per capita cost of care, and improving the experience of health care professionals. Health equity has previously been subsumed within the other 4 aims. Elevating health equity to the status of a distinct aim is necessary to address persistent health inequities that disproportionately affect underrepresented and minoritized groups. Academic health centers (AHCs) bear a unique responsibility to advance health equity due to the societal importance of their 4 missions: patient care, education, research, and community collaboration. Interprofessional education and practice provide natural connection points that enable AHCs to prepare both health professions students and practicing health care professionals to address all 5 aims. AHCs are well positioned to assess health outcomes related to health equity, develop a health care workforce that is representative of their communities, develop innovative research questions regarding health equity, and engage and invest in the communities they serve.

Adults Without Advocates and the Unrepresented: A Narrative Review of Terminology and Settings.

Socially isolated adults, including those with and without the ability to make medical decisions, are encountered in clinical practice and are at risk for adverse health outcomes. Consensus is lacking on appropriate terminology to describe subpopulations of these patients. In addition, little is known about the settings in which they present. These gaps prevent clinicians and policymakers from identifying and understanding these populations and deploying appropriate resources to meet their complex needs. We conducted a narrative review of literature on socially isolated adults aged 50 and older to assess and integrate the available evidence regarding the terminology used to describe unrepresented patients and adults without advocates to inform consensus on terminology. We also identified the settings in which unrepresented patients and adults without advocates are described in the literature, including both within and outside health care settings. Our results indicate that there is heterogeneity and inconsistency in the terminology used to describe socially isolated adults, as well as heterogeneity in the settings in which they are identified in the literature. Our findings suggest that future work should include achieving consensus on terminology and integrating proactive interdisciplinary interventions across health systems and communities to prevent adults without advocates from becoming unrepresented.

Age-friendly care in the Veterans Health Administration: Past, present, and future.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has long recognized the need for age-friendly care. VHA leadership anticipated the impact of aging World War II veterans on VA healthcare systems and in 1975 developed Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (GRECCs) to meet this need. GRECCs catalyzed a series of innovations in geriatric models of care that span the continuum of care, most of which endure. These innovative care models also contributed to the evidence base supporting the present-day Age-Friendly Health Systems movement, with which VHA is inherently aligned. As both a provider of and payor for care, VHA is strongly incentivized to promote coordination across the continuum of care, with resultant cost savings. VHA is also a major contributor to developing the workforce that is essential for the provision of age-friendly care. As VHA continues to develop and refine innovative geriatric models of care, policymakers and non-VHA health care systems should look to VHA programs as exemplars for the development and implementation of age-friendly care.

"I worry about this patient EVERY day": Geriatrics Clinicians' Challenges in Caring for Unrepresented Older Adults.

Unrepresented older adults are at risk for adverse outcomes, and clinicians who care for them may face ethical dilemmas and unique challenges when making person-centered care recommendations. However, little is known about their perspectives on clinical challenges in caring for this population. An online survey was used to assess issues around providing care for unrepresented patients. Ninety-two American Geriatrics Society members working with older adults in inpatient and/or outpatient settings completed the survey. Descriptive qualitative analysis of narrative survey responses identified five broad themes: (a) health risk characteristics of patients, (b) care decisions facing the team, (c) psychosocial considerations by the team, (d) patient outcomes, and (e) burden of the provider and/or health system. These findings demonstrate that geriatrics clinicians face challenges in working with unrepresented adults in both inpatient and outpatient settings. We interpret these results in light of existing literature and propose collaborative approaches that may improve outcomes.

The Slow Creep Back: Threats and Opportunities for IPE Posed by COVID-19.

Interprofessional education (IPE) prepares current and future health care professionals for interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP). IPCP results in increased quality of care demanded by patients and reimbursed in value-based care models when appropriately operationalized. The COVID-19 pandemic forced rapid and unprecedented changes in higher education and healthcare, although the impact on IPE delivery in the U.S. is unknown. Analyses of qualitative survey data collected from U.S. IPE leaders (n = 21) identified the impact and challenges of the pandemic on IPE programs. Three primary themes emerged: transition to a virtual environment, uncertainties and fears regarding finance and program sustainability, and opportunities for improvements in programming, delivery, instructional design, experiential learning, and assessment. Programs faced existential pandemic-related challenges. Concurrently, the pandemic accelerated innovation in IPE curricula, illuminated opportunities for IPE to improve the work life of healthcare providers, and raised awareness of the need to extend the Quadruple Aim to eliminate health inequities.

Communication Disparities between Nursing Home Team Members.

Optimal care in nursing home (NH) settings requires effective team communication. Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) interact with nursing home residents frequently, but the extent to which CNAs feel their input is valued by other team members is not known. We conducted a cross-sectional study in which we administered a communication survey within 20 Utah nursing home facilities to 650 team members, including 124 nurses and 264 CNAs. Respondents used a 4-point scale to indicate the extent to which their input is valued by other team members when reporting their concerns about nursing home residents. We used a one-way ANOVA with a Bonferroni correction. When compared to nurses, CNAs felt less valued (CNA mean = 2.14, nurse mean = 3.24; p < 0.001) when reporting to physicians, and less valued (CNA mean = 1.66, nurse mean = 2.71; p < 0.001) when reporting to pharmacists. CNAs did not feel less valued than nurses (CNA mean = 3.43, nurse mean = 3.37; p = 0.25) when reporting to other nurses. Our findings demonstrate that CNAs feel their input is not valued outside of nursing, which could impact resident care. Additional research is needed to understand the reasons for this perception and to design educational interventions to improve the culture of communication in nursing home settings.

The Development and Validation of a Communication Survey Instrument for Long-term Care Staff.

Information transfers in long-term care (LTC) settings between and among providers, staff, residents, and family caregivers are often fragmented. In order to identify training needs to improve communication, a survey instrument was developed and refined to assess the self-efficacy of LTC staff in communicating with staff, providers, residents, and caregivers. This 11-item survey instrument, based on a literature review, covered four key concepts (mutual respect, recognizing and responding to sensory deficits, limited health literacy, and changes in condition) relevant to communicating health information in LTC settings. Ten content experts evaluated each survey item using a 4-point scale. The content validity of the survey was established by using the content validity index to assess results at the item and scale levels. All items scored 0.90 or greater and were retained. Future work should entail broad-scale validation and testing of this survey across the United States. By assessing the self-efficacy of LTC staff in communicating with the interprofessional team, leadership teams can design personalized interprofessional continuing education activities aimed at improving communication skills. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2022;53(3):123-130.].

Exploring the intersection of structural racism and ageism in healthcare.

The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) has consistently advocated for a healthcare system that meets the needs of older adults, including addressing impacts of ageism in healthcare. The intersection of structural racism and ageism compounds the disadvantage experienced by historically marginalized communities. Structural racism and ageism have long been ingrained in all aspects of US society, including healthcare. This intersection exacerbates disparities in social determinants of health, including poor access to healthcare and poor outcomes. These deeply rooted societal injustices have been brought to the forefront of the collective public consciousness at different points throughout history. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare and exacerbated existing inequities inflicted on historically marginalized communities. Ageist rhetoric and policies during the COVID-19 pandemic further marginalized older adults. Although the detrimental impact of structural racism on health has been well-documented in the literature, generative research on the intersection of structural racism and ageism is limited. The AGS is working to identify and dismantle the healthcare structures that create and perpetuate these combined injustices and, in so doing, create a more just US healthcare system. This paper is intended to provide an overview of important frameworks and guide future efforts to both identify and eliminate bias within healthcare delivery systems and health professions training with a particular focus on the intersection of structural racism and ageism.

Results From a Survey of American Geriatrics Society Members' Views on Physician-Assisted Suicide.

BACKGROUND: Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is a controversial practice, currently legal in nine states and the District of Columbia. No prior study explores the views of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) membership on PAS. DESIGN: We surveyed 1488 randomly selected AGS members via email. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 369 AGS members completed the survey (24.8% response rate). ANALYSIS: We conducted bivariate correlation analyses of beliefs related to support for PAS. We also conducted qualitative analysis of open-ended responses. RESULTS: There was no consensus regarding the acceptability of PAS, with 47% supporting and 52% opposing this practice. PAS being legal in the respondent's state, belief that respect for autonomy alone is sufficient to justify PAS, and intent to prescribe or support requests for PAS if legal in state of practice all correlated with support for PAS. There was no consensus on whether the AGS should oppose, support, or adopt a neutral stance on PAS. Most respondents believed that PAS is more complex among patients with low health literacy, low English proficiency, disability, dependency, or frailty. Most respondents supported mandatory palliative care consultation and independent assessments from two physicians. Themes identified from qualitative analysis include role of the medical profession, uncertainty of the role of professional organizations, potential unintended consequences, autonomy, and ethical and moral considerations. CONCLUSION: There was no consensus among respondents regarding the acceptability of PAS. Respondents expressed concern about vulnerable older populations and the need for safeguards when responding to requests for PAS. Ethical, legal, and policy discussions regarding PAS should consider vulnerable populations. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:23-30, 2019.

AGS Position Statement: Resource Allocation Strategies and Age-Related Considerations in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to impact older adults disproportionately, from severe illness and hospitalization to increased mortality risk. Concurrently, concerns about potential shortages of healthcare professionals and health supplies to address these needs have focused attention on how resources are ultimately allocated and used. Some strategies misguidedly use age as an arbitrary criterion, inappropriately disfavoring older adults. This statement represents the official policy position of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS). It is intended to inform stakeholders including hospitals, health systems, and policymakers about ethical considerations to consider when developing strategies for allocating scarce resources during an emergency involving older adults. Members of the AGS Ethics Committee collaborated with interprofessional experts in ethics, law, nursing, and medicine (including geriatrics, palliative care, emergency medicine, and pulmonology/critical care) to conduct a structured literature review and examine relevant reports. The resulting recommendations defend a particular view of distributive justice that maximizes relevant clinical factors and deemphasizes or eliminates factors placing arbitrary, disproportionate weight on advanced age. The AGS positions include (1) avoiding age per se as a means for excluding anyone from care; (2) assessing comorbidities and considering the disparate impact of social determinants of health; (3) encouraging decision makers to focus primarily on potential short-term (not long-term) outcomes; (4) avoiding ancillary criteria such as "life-years saved" and "long-term predicted life expectancy" that might disadvantage older people; (5) forming and staffing triage committees tasked with allocating scarce resources; (6) developing institutional resource allocation strategies that are transparent and applied uniformly; and (7) facilitating appropriate advance care planning. The statement includes recommendations that should be immediately implemented to address resource allocation strategies during COVID-19, aligning with AGS positions. The statement also includes recommendations for post-pandemic review. Such review would support revised strategies to ensure that governments and institutions have equitable emergency resource allocation strategies, avoid future discriminatory language and practice, and have appropriate guidance to develop national frameworks for emergent resource allocation decisions. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1136-1142, 2020.