A student-led Geriatric Assessment Clinic: Interprofessional education with an older adult population.

Healthcare students have expressed a need for more education on the aging adult population. Interprofessional education (IPE) is a well-known educational model intended to increase students' knowledge, skill, and abilities to use evidence-based practice for improved patient outcomes. At a Midwestern, urban-based university, we have implemented an interprofessional, student-led Geriatric Assessment Clinic in order to allow students in six health professions (including medicine, nutrition, occupational therapy, physical therapy, social work, and speech language pathology) to practically apply their skills in the aging adult population while learning to work with other healthcare professionals. This holistic clinic is free of cost to the aging adults who participate in it. The following article discusses the purpose, implementation, benefits, and limitations of such a clinic as it relates to both the patients who attend and the students who participate.

Enhancing specialty training in geropsychology competencies: An evaluation of a VA Geriatric Scholars Program advanced topics workshop.

There is a growing need for psychologists with specialized training in geriatric mental health competencies. The Geriatric Scholars Program for Psychologists (GSP-P) was created to address this shortage within a large integrated healthcare system. In 2019, GSP-P piloted an advanced workshop designed to enhance expertise in geriatric mental health competencies among graduates of its foundational competencies core course. The workshop included 3.5 days of expert-led seminars regarding the biopsychosocial needs of older adults with chronic medical illness and was followed by completion of an individualized learning plan. This paper describes the evaluation of the course using a mixed methods with data collected prior to the workshop, immediately post-workshop, and six months post-workshop. Results indicated enthusiasm for the workshop, significant improvements in four geropsychology domains on the Pikes Peak Geropsychology Knowledge and Skill Assessment Tool, and benefit from completion of the independent learning plans. Our findings demonstrate that continued enhancement of geropsychology competencies through advanced coursework is feasible and improves knowledge and skill, particularly when combined with individualized learning plans.

Perceptions and knowledge of older adults: An analysis of interprofessional education and medically underserved populations.

This study explored an academic Interprofessional Geriatric Case Competition (IGCC) experience with a focus on medically underserved populations. Our aims were to assess: the perceptions of and knowledge of older adult populations; and the overall IPE (Interprofessional Education) experience of the IGCC participants. A multi-method study approach was used, the Facts on Aging Quiz assessed knowledge and the Carolina Opinions on Care of Older Adults (COCOA) assessed perceptions. A qualitative thematic approach was utilized to explore the themes of the IPE experience. There was a moderate correlation (0.37, p < .001) between perception and knowledge data of the respondents (N = 94), current professionals (54%) and enrolled students (46%). The three emerged themes were as follows: interprofessional/holistic practice; culturally responsive/older adult centered practice; and the impact of Covid-19. The implementation of IPE that centers medically underserved populations has the potential to: enhance students learning, influence the quality of care, and provide pathways to working within these specific populations.

Current and Future Needs of Gerontological Social Work Practice in Alberta: Findings from the World Café at the Gerontological Symposium in Edmonton, Canada.

The growing aging population in Canada has multi-faceted psycho-social needs. Social workers are well-positioned to address these needs, despite many challenges. This paper reports findings from the World Café at the Gerontology Symposium in Alberta, Canada, held in 2018. The goal was to learn from social work practitioners, researchers, and educators (N = 49) about current and future needs of gerontological social work in Alberta. There were two research questions: 1) What strategies do social workers need on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels to help better serve the growing older adult population in Alberta? (R1) 2) How can social workers promote the value and contribution of gerontological social work within the interprofessional community? (R2) The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Ten R1-related themes emerged: personal traits of a social worker; professional skills; bio-psycho-social needs of older adults; community connections; access to benefits; gerontological social work education; integrated healthcare; aging policy; ageism; and advocacy to strengthen the voice of older adults. The three R2-related themes include strengthening the status of the social work profession; building trust through demonstrated skills; and interprofessional education and practice.

Telecollaboration in gerontology service learning: Addressing isolation & loneliness in a pandemic.

Social isolation and loneliness present significant challenges for the mental and physical health of older adults. Social distancing, mask wearing, and other precautions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic add to these challenges. This article details a telecollaborative service-learning project to engage older adults online and provide applied experiences for students. From March through October 2020, 54 students from Social Work (Master, Bachelor), the College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM; DO), and Occupational Therapy (Master) provided telephone support and Zoom™ based programming for older adults affiliated with the University of New England. Creative offerings were piloted weekly and debriefed on Friday afternoons in the spring, leading to more structured 8-week schedules in summer and fall. Peer-to-peer support took place between older adults with experience in video meetings and those willing to learn. Bidirectional and intergenerational benefits were noted as older adults and students navigated the exigencies of the pandemic and learned important lessons with and from each other to advance knowledge and improve quality of life.

Implementation of a Healthcare of Elderly Course With Multi-Professional Teachers for Undergraduate Medical Students in a Public University in Malaysia-A Quasi-Experimental Pre and Post Study.

Clinical practise in the ageing population is changing from organ-specific specialty care to holistic care. This is done through comprehensive geriatric assessment and multi-disciplinary team management. Hence, we adopted an approach consisting of multi-professional teachers teaching a Healthcare of Elderly Course (HEC), in a public university in Malaysia. We aimed to analyze the students' attitude, self-perceived competency and interest in geriatric medicine as a career before and after the course. We also investigated variables that might influence this interest among these students. All 96 students in the course were invited to participate in the survey. Sixty-eight (70.8%) completed both pre and post-course questionnaires. Although most students (93%) have a positive attitude (University of California at Los Angeles Geriatric Attitude Scale >3) toward older adults at baseline, it did not significantly increase post-course. We found that the mean scores for self-perceived competency increased from 3.62 (±0.76) to 3.81 (±0.56) post-course (p < 0.01). However, the students remained neutral with no significant change in the mean interest in pursuing a geriatric medicine career after the course. Students with higher self-perceived competency post-course were found to be more interested in geriatric medicine (ß = 0.56, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the HEC in our centre could sustain a positive attitude and increase self-perceived competency in students. It is important to increase the preparedness of our graduates in managing older adults with frailty and multimorbidity. Future studies may involve inter-professional education of students from multiple disciplines undergoing the same course to nurture real-life collaborations in managing the ageing population.

Integrative Care of the Older Persons in Nigeria: An Appraisal of the Geriatric Centre, University College Hospital, Ibadan.

BACKGROUND: Geriatric medicine is an emerging subspecialty in Nigeria. The interest in the care of older Nigerians followed the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing in April 2002. This led to an increase in research, publications and advocacy culminating in the establishment of the pioneer geriatric centre in Nigeria in 2012. Since then, there has been an increase in capacity building, manpower development and institutionalization of geriatric care in Nigeria. This is an account of the evolution of the Chief Tony Anenih Geriatric Centre, University College Hospital, Ibadan (UCH). METHODS: We undertook the review of the history, structure and key service elements in the Geriatric Centre, UCH from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2020. RESULTS: The number of patients rose from 2,559 in the first year to 19,300 by the end of 2020. The initial four multidisciplinary units increased to 12 over the review period. Likewise, the in-patient admission increased between the first year (122 patients) and 2020 (141 patients). The overall mortality rate was 11.4% over the review period. Internship opportunities were provided to students including resident doctors, undergraduates (medical) and postgraduate students (Masters and PhD). Besides, 139 medical doctors have undergone the annual basic certificate training in geriatric medicine organised by the Centre. Also, 7 fellowship dissertations and 11 peer-reviewed papers have been published. CONCLUSION: The centre has demonstrated the possibility of caring for older patients in a low-resource setting. The employment of the multidisciplinary approach yielded a low mortality rate, higher attendance and manpower development.

CONTEXTE: La médecine gériatrique est une sous-spécialité émergente au Nigéria. L'intérêt pour les soins aux Nigérians âgés a suivi le Plan d'action international de Madrid sur le vieillissement en avril 2002. Cela a conduit à une augmentation de la recherche, des publications et du plaidoyer aboutissant à la création du centre gériatrique pionnier au Nigéria en 2012. Depuis lors, il y a eu Il y a eu une augmentation du renforcement des capacités, du développement de la main-d'œuvre et de l'institutionnalisation des soins gériatriques au Nigeria. Ceci est un compte rendu de l'évolution du Chief Tony Anenih Geriatric Centre, University College Hospital, Ibadan (UCH). MÉTHODES: Nous avons entrepris l'examen de l'historique, de la structure et des éléments de service clés du Centre gériatrique, UCH du 1er janvier 2013 au 31 décembre 2020. RÉSULTATS: Le nombre de patients est passé de 2 559 la première année à 19 300 fin 2020. Les quatre unités multidisciplinaires initiales sont passées à 12 au cours de la période d'examen. De même, l'hospitalisation a augmenté entre la première année (122 patients) et 2020 (141 patients). Le taux de mortalité global était de 11,4 % au cours de la période d'examen. Des opportunités de stages ont été offertes aux étudiants, notamment aux médecins résidents, aux étudiants de premier cycle (médecine) et aux étudiants de troisième cycle (maîtrise et doctorat). Par ailleurs, 139 médecins ont suivi la formation annuelle certifiante de base en médecine gériatrique organisée par le Centre. En outre, 7 thèses de bourses et 11 articles évalués par des pairs ont été publiés. CONCLUSION: Le centre a démontré la possibilité de prendre en charge des patients âgés dans un milieu à faibles ressources. L'emploi de l'approche multidisciplinaire a donné un faible taux de mortalité, une fréquentation plus élevée et un développement de la main-d'œuvre. Mots-clés: Soins intégratifs, personnes âgées, Centre gériatrique, Ibadan, Nigéria.

Improving Geropsychology Competencies of Veterans Affairs Psychologists.

Older adults are more likely to seek mental health care through integrated care settings such as primary care. Currently, there exists a significant shortage of mental health providers trained in geropsychology and integrated care competencies. To address this need within the Veterans Health Administration, a national workforce development program was extended to include psychologists, which is called the Geriatric Scholars Program-Psychology Track (GSP-P). The GSP-P has two overarching educational program aims: (1) to improve geropsychology competencies of practicing VA psychologists, particularly those working within integrated settings (e.g., primary care) and (2) enrich psychologists' abilities to enact change in their clinical settings. Ninety-eight VA clinicians participated in the GSP-P, which includes a multi-day in-person course, from 2014 to 2018. Participants completed measures assessing confidence and self-reported knowledge in geropsychology and integrated care competencies pre-course and 3-months post-completion. Two-weeks post-course participants responded to open-ended survey questions regarding their perceptions of the course and potential applications of learning. Significant improvements in confidence in and knowledge of geropsychology and integrated care competencies emerged from pre-course to 3-months post-completion. Qualitative findings demonstrated that participants valued the face-to-face, integrated multimodal educational program. Findings provided insights regarding clinicians' planned application of the knowledge acquired, such as modifying treatments for older patients. Specialized workforce programs such as the GSP-P have a significant, positive impact on the care of older Veterans.

Interprofessional competencies of students in a geriatric case competition.

This paper presents a valuable activity to teach health professions students - the interprofessional geriatric case competition. This program brought together students from multiple health professions to design and present a comprehensive care plan using a simulated complex geriatric patient case. Student participants demonstrated beginning skills in interprofessional collaboration based on the IPEC competencies. The case competition provides a positive, engaging experience to introduce health professions students to geriatric principles and develop their readiness for collaborative interprofessional practice. The competition could be conducted virtually, providing a supplement to on-site education.

Beliefs and Attitudes of Graduate Gerontology Students about Medical Marijuana Use for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease.

AIMS: The aims of the current study were as follows: 1) to assess gerontology graduate students' beliefs about medical marijuana's (MMJ) effectiveness for two common age-related conditions - Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD); 2) to assess students' beliefs and attitudes toward MMJ; 3) to explore associations linking background characteristics, MMJ-related attitudes and beliefs, and beliefs about the MMJ effectiveness for AD and PD. METHOD: A sample of 104 (84 women and 20 men) gerontology graduate students voluntarily participated in the anonymous online survey. RESULTS: The vast majority (95%) of the participants indicated they had no formal education about MMJ and reported being unprepared to answer clients' MMJ-related questions (84.6%). Most of the participants believed that MMJ is effective for use with AD (70.2%) and PD (80.8%) patients. Participants reported favorable beliefs about MMJ benefits, concerns about risks, the need for training, and positive attitudes toward recreational marijuana use legalization. Prior marijuana use (e.g., self-use, friends or family) was found to be associated with more positive beliefs about MMJ benefits, risks, and its legalization for recreational purposes. Prior marijuana use was the only factor associated with the belief that MMJ is an effective therapy for use with AD or PD patients. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings show the need for students' MMJ education in order to provide future gerontology service providers with the necessary knowledge and ability to address clients' questions about MMJ use. Efforts to develop curricula and training programs need to be promoted.

Home Visits Improve Attitudes and Self-Efficacy: A Longitudinal Curriculum for Residents.

OBJECTIVES: To develop a competency-based, adaptable home visit curricula and clinical framework for family medicine (FM) residents, and to examine resident attitudes, self-efficacy, and skills following implementation. DESIGN: Quantitative analysis of resident survey responses and qualitative thematic analysis of written resident reflections. SETTING: Urban FM residency program. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 43 residents and 20 homebound patients in a home-based primary care program. INTERVENTION: A home-based primary care practice and accompanying curriculum for FM residents was developed and implemented to improve learners' confidence and skills to perform home visits. MEASUREMENTS: A 10-question survey with a 4-point Likert scale and open-ended responses. Written resident reflections following home visits. RESULTS: Over 3 years, 43 unique respondents completed a total of 79 surveys evaluating attitudes, skills, and barriers to home care. Some residents may have completed the survey more than once at different stages in their training. Overall, 86% are interested in home visits in future practice, and 78% of survey responses indicated an increased likelihood to perform home visits with more training. Learners with two or more home visits reported significantly improved confidence. Themes across all resident reflections included social determinants of health, patient-physician relationship, patient-home assessment, patient autonomy/independence, and physician wellness/attitudes. Residents described how home visits encourage more holistic care to improve outcomes for patients who are homebound. CONCLUSION: Our home visit curriculum provided new learning, an enhanced desire to practice home-based primary care, improved learner confidence, and could help residents meet the need of a growing population of adults who are homebound. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:852-858, 2020.

Healthcare professionals' perceptions of P.I.E.C.E.S. education in supporting care delivery for older adults with responsive behaviours of dementia in acute care.

Introduction: In acute care settings persons with dementia often use responsive behaviours such as yelling and hitting as a meaningful mode of communication. Staff dementia care education programs such as P.I.E.C.E.S. may help to address these gaps in care. P.I.E.C.E.S. is a holistic clinical assessment framework that focuses on Physical, Intellectual, and Emotional health, Capabilities of an individual, and the living Environment of a person and the Social being.Aims: The aim of this interpretive descriptive study was to explore the perceptions of healthcare professionals of P.I.E.C.E.S. and recommendations to enhance its uptake.Methods: A total of 15 healthcare professionals from acute medical settings in a hospital in Ontario participated in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Experiential thematic and secondary data analyses were performed.Findings: P.I.E.C.E.S. had many positive perceived impacts such as promoting interdisciplinary collaboration. However, participants reported that it was challenging to sustain P.I.E.C.E.S. in practice which led to a tapering off of it approximately one year post-education. A barrier to applying P.I.E.C.E.S. was limited time.Conclusions: Findings indicate the need for educational reinforcements and sustainability strategies for dementia care programs in acute care settings. Organizations should implement regular interdisciplinary meetings to provide opportunities for staff to apply P.I.E.C.E.S.

Experiential Service Learning: Building skills and sensitivity with Kolb's learning theory.

Preparing a healthcare workforce able to respond to the growing complexity of health issues facing older adults is a critical issue for interprofessional educators. Students are in need of experiences promoting confidence and skill in communicating with older adults with cognitive issues. Student emotional and cognitive responses to an interprofessional Music and Memory® project in long term care facilities were evaluated. Forty-eight students met with assigned adults weekly to develop personalized music playlists and complete a journal entry. Student participants demonstrated improved interpersonal connections, enhanced professional skills, and increased empathy toward clients. Results are explored within the context of Kolb's Learning Theory and application of the evaluation outcomes for interprofessional education.

Interprofessional Spiritual Care Training for Geriatric Care Providers.

Background: Despite the importance patients place on religion and spirituality, many patients with advanced diseases report that their religious and spiritual needs are not met by their health care team, and many nonchaplain clinicians feel unprepared to address religious and spiritual issues in their practice. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of a one-day workshop on spiritual care for nonchaplain clinicians who provide care to elderly long-term care patients. Methods: Clinician participants (N = 68) were given a pre-survey at the beginning of the workshop, a post-survey at the conclusion of the workshop, and a three-month follow-up survey to evaluate their comfort in engaging in spiritual issues before and after the workshop. An average ability score of 13 items in the survey was calculated as well as an average comfort score, which was an average of three items in the survey. Ability scores and comfort scores were analyzed using a pairwise t-test, comparing pre- versus post-workshop and post- versus three-month scores. Results: Overall average scores for clinicians' self-reported perceived ability in engaging in issues around spirituality with patients and their families increased from before the workshop to the post-workshop and three months later. Participants' self-perceived comfort increased from before the workshop to immediately following the workshop. Discussion: This study suggests that a spiritual care training program targeted toward geriatric clinicians has the potential to provide clinicians with the tools, skills, and support they need to approach basic spiritual care with their patients and family members.

Geriatric medicine and old age psychiatry joint training pre-feasibility pilot study: an innovative approach to collaborative postgraduate training.

BACKGROUND: Physical and psychological health problems are prevalent in older adults and rarely exist in isolation. Treating these problems in isolation is resourceful and can be potentially harmful to patients due to delays in diagnosis and treatment and incomplete holistic care plans. Historically, trainees in geriatric medicine and old age psychiatry within the United Kingdom have completed very different training programmes. METHODS: We undertook a pre-feasibility pilot study of collaborative postgraduate training between trainees in geriatric medicine and old age psychiatry within the West Midlands training region, United Kingdom. Trainees in each specialty were paired with each other and advised to arrange appropriate training opportunities for their counterpart; these included shadowing each other in their workplace and arranging opportunities to attend training opportunities with their consultants. Pre- and post-pilot surveys were completed by all trainees and reflections from trainees were collated. RESULTS: Five trainee pairs were formed and arranged shadowing and training opportunities between October 2017 and May 2018. This included a combination of inpatient, outpatient, and community work. For both specialties, trainees' confidence in topics relating to their counterparts' specialty increased between the pre- and post-pilot surveys. Recurrent themes included within reflections included the benefits of collaborative training. CONCLUSIONS: Our pilot has demonstrated that it is feasible to implement a programme of joint training into postgraduate medical training, and that this can have a positive impact upon the confidence of both specialties. An extended pilot is planned for the training year 2018-2019.

National Policies and Older People's Healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is undergoing a rapid demographic change, with more people reaching old age. There is, however, little information available about healthcare policies with regards to this age group in this region of the world. OBJECTIVES: This scoping review aims to map the healthcare policies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) after the 2002 United Nations Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) with an eye towards to identifying strategies for promoting older people's access to health care, integration of older people's diseases into primary health care and the level of training and research in geriatrics and gerontology in SSA. METHODS: This review adopted Arskey and O'Malley's five-step methodology for scoping review and used the guide by Levac et al to operationalize the steps. Potentially relevant literature in English published between January 2003 and December 2017 was identified through PubMed, Google Scholar, EBSCOhost, and manual search. Articles that related to ageing in SSA in line with the aims of the review were included. The identified articles were independently assessed by the authors and the decision on the articles to be included was reached by a consensus. FINDINGS: A total of 363 articles were identified through the databases and manual search of which only 4.7% (17/363) of the articles were included in the review. The findings showed that many SSA countries have formulated policies on healthy ageing and a few have policies to promote access to health care for the older people. The integration of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) management into primary health care (PHC) is encouraging but mental health appears to have been completely neglected. Training and research in gerontology and geriatrics are hardly supported by governments in SSA. CONCLUSIONS: Significant progress has been made by the SSA countries in policy formulation with regards to older persons but not much has been achieved with the implementation of the policies.

Older Californians and the Mental Health Services Act: Is an Older Adult System of Care Supported?

This policy brief summarizes findings from the first study to evaluate how California's public mental health delivery system has served older adults (60 years of age and over) since the passage of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) in 2004. Study findings indicate that there are unmet needs among older adults with mental illness in the public mental health delivery system. There are deficits in the involvement of older adults in the required MHSA planning processes and in outreach and service delivery, workforce development, and outcomes measurement and reporting. There is also evidence of promising programs and strategies that counties have advanced to address these deficits. Recommendations for improving mental health services for older adults include designating a distinct administrative and leadership structure for older adult services in each county; enhancing older adult outreach and documentation of unmet need; promoting standardized geriatric training of providers; instituting standardized data-reporting requirements; and increasing service integration efforts, especially between medical, behavioral health, aging, and substance use disorder services.

Geriatrics Curriculum Needs Assessment for Dermatology Residency Programs.

BACKGROUND: Geriatric patients account for a growing proportion of dermatology clinic visits. Although their biopsychosocial needs differ from those of younger adults, there are no geriatrics training requirements for dermatology residency programs. OBJECTIVE: This study explored the state of geriatrics education in dermatology programs in 2016. METHODS: This constructivist study employed cross-sectional, mixed-methods analysis with triangulation of semistructured interviews, surveys, and commonly used curricular materials. We used purposive sampling of 5 US academic allopathic dermatology programs of different sizes, geographic locations, and institutional resources. Participants were interviewed about informal curricula, barriers, and suggestions for improving geriatrics education, and they also completed a survey about the geriatrics topics that should be taught. The constant comparative method with grounded theory was used for qualitative analysis. We identified formal geriatrics curricular content by electronically searching and counting relevant key texts. RESULTS: Fourteen of 17 participants (82%) agreed to be interviewed, and 10 of 14 (71%) responded to the survey. Themes of what should be taught included diagnosing and managing skin diseases common in older adults, holistic treatment, cosmetic dermatology, benign skin aging, and the basic science of aging. Topics currently covered that could be expanded included communication, systems-based challenges, ethical issues, safe prescribing, quality improvement, and elder abuse. Cosmetic dermatology was the most commonly taught formal geriatrics curricular topic. CONCLUSIONS: There were discrepancies among topics participants felt were important to teach about geriatric dermatology and curricular coverage of these areas. We identified challenges for expanding geriatrics curricula and potential solutions.

Geriatric education utilizing a palliative care framework.

The dramatic growth of persons older than age 65 and the increased incidence of multiple, chronic illness has resulted in the need for more comprehensive health care. Geriatrics and palliative care are medical specialties pertinent to individuals who are elderly, yet neither completely addresses the needs of older adults with chronic illness. Interprofessional faculty developed Geriatric Education Utilizing a Palliative Care Framework (GEPaC) to teach an integrated approach to care. Interactive online modules use a variety of instructional methods, including case-based interactive questions, audio-visual presentations, reflective questions, and scenario-based tests. Modules are designed for online education and/or traditional classroom and have been approved for Continuing Medical Education. Pre- and posttest scores showed significant improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Participants were highly satisfied with the coursework's relevance and usefulness for their practice and believed that GEPaC prepared them to address the needs of older adults for disease and symptom management, communicating goals of care, and supportive/compassionate care.

[Geriatrics or geriatricization of medicine : Quo vadis geriatrics?] / Geriatrie oder Geriatrisierung der Medizin : Quo vadis Geriatrie?

This article examines the question whether and how geriatrics will change in the future and whether in view of the demographic changes the trend will go more in the direction of a further expansion of geriatrics or more towards a geriatricization of individual specialist medical fields. The different development of geriatrics in the individual Federal States can only be understood historically and is absolutely problematic against the background of the new hospital remuneration system. Geriatrics is a typical cross-sectional faculty and still has demarcation problems with other faculties but has also not yet clearly defined the core competence. This certainly includes the increasing acquisition of decentralized joint treatment concepts and geriatric counselling services in the future, in addition to the classical assessment instruments. Keywords in association with this are: traumatology and othopedics of the elderly, geriatric neurology and geriatric oncology. Interdisciplinary geriatric expertise is increasingly being requested. Outpatient structures have so far not been prioritized in geriatrics. An independent research is under construction and it is gratifying that academic interest in geriatrics seems to be increasing and new professorial chairs have been established. It is not possible to imagine our hospital without geriatrics; however, there is still a certain imbalance between the clearly increased number of geriatric hospital beds, the representation of geriatrics in large hospitals (e.g. specialized and maximum care hospitals and university clinics), the secure establishment in further education regulations and the lack of a uniform nationwide concept of geriatrics.