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Home Care/Care of Elderly

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Handbook of Outpatient Medicine

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Abstract

Geriatric care focuses heavily on functional assessment, evaluating cognition and mood and enhancing social support networks. Caring for older adults requires special knowledge of conditions commonly seen in that population referred to as the geriatric syndromes. Diagnostic tests and medication management should be performed with careful consideration of the risk and benefit of the intervention and the overall life expectancy of the individual. Care should be given to avoiding ageist assumptions and attitudes. Working within multidisciplinary teams that embrace the patient and his/her family and caregivers is the most effective way to provide comprehensive care. For a select group of homebound older adults, delivering primary care in the home setting can reduce stress on patients and caregivers as well as avoiding unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital admissions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, NY Presbyterian Hospital, 525 East 68th St, Box 39, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Veronica M. LoFaso MD, MS

Authors
  1. Veronica M. LoFaso MD, MS
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Correspondence to Veronica M. LoFaso MD, MS .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA

    Elana Sydney

  2. Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA

    Eleanor Weinstein

  3. Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA

    Lisa M. Rucker

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LoFaso, V.M. (2018). Home Care/Care of Elderly. In: Sydney, E., Weinstein, E., Rucker, L. (eds) Handbook of Outpatient Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68379-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68379-9_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68378-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68379-9

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