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.

How Do Geriatric Principles Inform Healthy Aging?

Healthy aging long has been held as a core belief and priority of geriatrics, yet clinical, scholarly, and advocacy efforts have not kept pace with attention to multimorbidity and end-of-life care. With an aging US population and trends toward higher rates of lifestyle diseases, there is imperative for geriatricians to engage in efforts to promote healthy aging. Lifestyle medicine offers an evidence-based approach to healthy aging at any point in the life span. This emerging branch of medical practice has synergistic principles and frameworks with the field of geriatrics, which should further empower geriatricians to engage in promoting healthy aging.

Recognition, prevention, and treatment of delirium in emergency department: An evidence-based narrative review.

BACKGROUND: Delirium is an acute disorder of attention and cognition that is common, serious, costly, under-recognized, and potentially fatal. Delirium is particularly problematic in the emergency department (ED) care of medically complex older adults, who are being seen in greater numbers. OBJECTIVE: This evidence-based narrative review focuses on the key components of delirium screening, prevention, and treatment. DISCUSSION: The recognition of delirium requires a systematic approach rather than a clinical gestalt alone. Several delirium assessment tools with high sensitivity and specificity, such as delirium triage screen and brief Confusion Assessment Method, can be used in the ED. The prevention of delirium requires environmental modification and unique geriatric care strategies tailored to the ED. The key approaches to treatment include the removal of the precipitating etiology, re-orientation, hydration, and early mobilization. Treatment of delirium requires a multifaceted and comprehensive care plan, as there is limited evidence for significant benefit with pharmacological agents. CONCLUSION: Older ED patients are at high risk for current or subsequent development of delirium, and a focused screening, prevention, and intervention for those who are at risk for delirium and its associated complications are the important next steps.

Healthy Aging: American Geriatrics Society White Paper Executive Summary.

In July 2015, the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society published a manuscript titled, "Failing to Focus on Healthy Aging: A Frailty of Our Discipline?" In response, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Clinical Practice and Models of Care Committee and Public Education Committee developed a white paper calling on the AGS and its members to play a more active role in promoting healthy aging. The executive summary presented here summarizes the recommendations from that white paper. The full version is published online at GeriatricsCareOnline.org. Life expectancy has increased dramatically over the last century. Longer life provides opportunity for personal fulfillment and contributions to community but is often associated with illness, discomfort, disability, and dependency at the end of life. Geriatrics has focused on optimizing function and quality of life as we age and reducing morbidity and frailty, but there is evidence of earlier onset of chronic disease that is likely to affect the health of future generations of older adults. The AGS is committed to promoting the health, independence, and engagement of all older adults as they age. Geriatrics as an interprofessional specialty is well positioned to promote healthy aging. We draw from decades of accumulated knowledge, skills, and experience in areas that are central to geriatric medicine, including expertise in complexity and the biopsychosocial model; attention to function and quality of life; the ability to provide culturally competent, person-centered care; the ability to assess people's preferences and values; and understanding the importance of systems in optimizing outcomes. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:17-20, 2019.

A PRESCRIPTION FOR PROFESSIONAL BURNOUT.

In the closing months of 2016, my work with the Iowa Medical Society gave me the privilege of visiting with many fellow physicians across our wonderful state. If is a deep honor to meet with colleagues who are so committed to the well-being of their patients, their communities, and our profession. Simultaneously, I am concerned to hear the all-too-common tales of exhaustion, stress, and frustration at work - classic signs of professional burnout.

LEADING THE FIGHT TO REVERSE THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC.

In August I had the opportunity to attend a meeting in Des Moines entitled, Iowa Opiate Abuse and Heroin Addiction: A Community Crisis Summit. This summit brought together stakeholders, subject matter experts, state officials, and people personally impacted by the opioid epidemic for a meaningful discussion about the problem and the next steps we can take to thwart the evolving public health crisis and growing number of personal tragedies. The meeting, sponsored by the Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and the US Attorney's Offices for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa, was both sobering and enlightening.

IMS - THE ONE PLACE WHERE OUR STORIES CAN COME TOGETHER.

As my introduction to the membership at large, I want to tell a story - a story of me, a story of you, and a story of our Iowa Medical Society. I want to accomplish three things with this story.

How to Use the American Geriatrics Society 2015 Beers Criteria-A Guide for Patients, Clinicians, Health Systems, and Payors.

The Beers Criteria are a valuable tool for clinical care and quality improvement but may be misinterpreted and implemented in ways that cause unintended harms. This article describes the intended role of the 2015 American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Beers Criteria and provides guidance on how patients, clinicians, health systems, and payors should use them. A key theme underlying these recommendations is to use common sense and clinical judgment in applying the 2015 AGS Beers Criteria and to remain mindful of nuances in the criteria. The criteria serve as a "warning light" to identify medications that have an unfavorable balance of benefits and harms in many older adults, particularly when compared with pharmacological and nonpharmacological alternatives. However, there are situations in which use of medications included in the criteria can be appropriate. As such, the 2015 AGS Beers Criteria work best not only when they identify potentially inappropriate medications, but also when they educate clinicians and patients about the reasons those medications are included and the situations in which their use may be more or less problematic. The criteria are designed to support, rather than supplant, good clinical judgment.

Collaborative Care for Older Adults (COCOA), Palmer College of Chiropractic.

Integrative medicine (IM) is a subset of interprofessional health care that seeks to join the knowledge and practices of various allopathic and complementary and alternative medicine disciplines in an attempt to offer cost-effective and clinically significant healthcare options for persons with acute or chronic illnesses. Although touted as a means for improving health outcomes and patient satisfaction while possibly lowering costs, further scientific evidence regarding the utility of IM approaches to health services delivery is needed. Collaborative Care for Older Adults (COCOA) is a chiropractic demonstration project that brings together an interdisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians from the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research, Genesis Quad Cities Family Practice Residency, The University of Iowa, and Thomas Jefferson University to study the impact of a model of interprofessional education on geriatric health care. The Health Resources and Services Administration funded COCOA in 2009 to further develop and assess a patient-centered care model for the treatment of low back pain in older adults that uses a team-based approach between medical doctors and doctors of chiropractic.

Virtual patients in geriatric education.

The virtual patient is a case-based computer program that combines textual information with multimedia elements such as audio, graphics, and animation. It is increasingly being utilized as a teaching modality by medical educators in various fields of instruction. The inherent complexity of older patients and the shortage of geriatrics educators have spurred the development of virtual patient programs to teach geriatrics at the medical undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels. As an instructional tool, the Virtual Patient must be placed in the correct educational context to help educators identify opportunities for its proper use in the curriculum. In this review, the experiences of three medical schools in the development and application of geriatric virtual patients are described as case studies. In each case study, the challenges encountered and solutions developed are presented. Areas of future research in the use of virtual patients in geriatrics education include the determination of the optimal combination of features, the settings of use of virtual patient programs, the underlying pedagogy, and the limitations in its application in clinical instruction.

E-learning virtual patients for geriatric education.

Computer-based virtual patients (VPs) are an emerging medium for medical education that addresses barriers faced by geriatrics educators. Research has shown VPs to be as effective in changing knowledge and behavior as more traditional forms of teaching. This paper presents a descriptive study of the development of the University of Iowa's GeriaSims VP programs and their effectiveness as tools for geriatric education. More than 85% of the responses to an evaluation survey of GeriaSims users indicated favorable perceptions of instructional effectiveness, efficiency, and ease of use. GeriaSims VP programs were used effectively by multiple levels of learners and provide flexibility to these learners in scheduling their learning.

Blood pressure elevation in a patient treated with salsalate.

OBJECTIVE: To report a case of increased blood pressure associated with the use of salsalate in an elderly patient with no prior history of hypertension. CASE SUMMARY: A 78-year-old white man with no prior history of hypertension initiated salsalate therapy for low-back pain. Over the 15 months prior to the initiation of salsalate, his blood pressure averaged 127 +/- 7 mm Hg systolic and 84 +/- 6 mm Hg diastolic (mean +/- SD). After initiation of salsalate, he experienced significant elevations in blood pressure, which led to a preliminary diagnosis of hypertension. Blood pressure after initiation of salsalate averaged 150 +/- 13 mm Hg systolic and 95 +/- 5 mm Hg diastolic. No changes in medications or medication doses (with the exception of warfarin) occurred in the 18 months prior to or during salsalate therapy. His weight remained stable. A detailed review of his medical records and history revealed no other causes for these elevations in blood pressure. Salsalate therapy was discontinued and his blood pressure returned to normotensive levels (119 +/- 2 mm Hg systolic and 81 +/- 2 mm Hg diastolic). DISCUSSION: Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced elevations in blood pressure have been well documented in patients receiving antihypertensive medications. Due to its relative weak inhibition of cyclooxygenase and lack of published literature in hypertensive patients, salsalate is considered to have little or no effect on blood pressure. Our report documents a possible case of salsalate-induced hypertension in a previously normotensive elderly man. Observational studies suggest that NSAID use may increase the risk of developing hypertension in older patients. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should be aware of the possible effects of NSAIDs on blood pressure. Blood pressure monitoring following the initiation of salsalate may be warranted, particularly in older patients.