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Clinical Assessment and Management of Older People: What’s Different?

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Geriatric Emergency Medicine

Abstract

Managing older people in any context, in particular urgent care settings, can be challenging. Unlike patient with single presenting problems, older people will usually present with a range of issues, not just medical, that require addressing in order to achieve an effective management plan. The key points to consider are the following:

  • Non-specific presentations

  • Multiple comorbidities and polypharmacy

  • Functional decline and altered homeostasis

  • Differential challenge

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.triagenet.net/en.

  2. 2.

    Phrase coined by Dr. Chris Roseveare, Southampton; @CRoseveare.

  3. 3.

    http://www.nice.org.uk/CG021.

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Correspondence to Gertrude Chikura .

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Chikura, G., Conroy, S., Salvi, F. (2018). Clinical Assessment and Management of Older People: What’s Different?. In: Nickel, C., Bellou, A., Conroy, S. (eds) Geriatric Emergency Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19318-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19318-2_5

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