Dealing with the management of depression as part of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment including the treatments to consider.
The prevalence of delirium in the community is 1-2 per cent but this rises to 14 per cent in people over 85, and in nursing homes or post acute care settings, can be up to 60 per cent. This guide deals with risk factors, diagnosis and management of this condition.
Assessment of mental capacity should be a routine part of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment. This guide lays out the principles which govern testing mental capacity, advance care decisions and powers of attorney, along with the safeguards.
Bladder control problems are a common problem in older people and result from a variety of causes. Continence issues are an essential part of any Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment, and this guide examines the causes, assessment, management and treatments available.
Nutritional status can be easily assessed, and problems can often be addressed quickly. Key questions about diet, appetite and weight should be on the menu of any Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment.
An introduction to CGA in primary care settings. This toolkit was developed by the British Geriatrics Society and has been endorsed by the ANCD for Older People and Integrated Person-Centred Care and by the Council of British Geriatrics Society, Scotland.
An overview of how Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is done in the primary care setting, and what to consider when conducting the assessment.
Examination of older patients incorporates all the typical aspects of clinical examination, although there are some general considerations and emphases that should be borne in mind, and specific examinations that may be more relevant in older people.
Functional assessment examines factors like mobility and daily living activities, and social assessment looks at social circumstances. Asking what the older person does and what environment they live in adds context to any Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment.
Medication review is a core component of CGA. Older patients can have indications for multiple medications, some of which may be based on sound evidence, but others may do more harm than good. The evidence base for guideline based prescribing may not be so relevant to frail older people.
Creating a problem list as part of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment can help identify all the issues to consider and will be helpful in drawing up a care plan.
A reference guide to care and support planning within Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment for primary care and community clinicians, including the recommended components and tips for creating a care plan.
CGA needs to consider the impact of social factors on the health and wellbeing of individuals and vice versa. Here we look at working with Social Services and the differences in the four nations of the UK.
Improving older people’s walking and balancing improves quality of life, reduces dependence on health and social care and prevents falls. This guide looks at the importance of taking a full history, assessing gait and balance, and referral to physiotherapy.
Often a key component of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment in primary care, this guide examines step-by-step how to carry out a multifactorial risk assessment for falls.
This chapter provides an overview of rehabilitation as a beneficial intervention for many older people living with frailty, and the current situation across the four nations of the UK.
This report, originally published in June 2015, summarises research commissioned by BGS and Age UK on older people's attitudes and feelings towards language around frailty.
A selection of case presentations on community geriatric services and initiatives which were first presented at the BGS Autumn Meeting 2021 (24-26 November).
This document describes the care home sector across the UK as it currently stands, how health and wellbeing has traditionally been supported in care homes and sets out what good healthcare provision in a care home environment should look like.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has published this practical guide for staff providing intermediate care services.
BGS Community and Geriatrics Special Interest Group announces Dr Shelagh O'Riordan as its new Chair.
I knocked on the door. From behind the entrance Alan appeared weary and yet relieved to see a familiar face. I sat down with him and revisited our meeting a week prior when he came to see me complaining of widespread joint pain and weight loss for which no cause had been identified by the hospital specialists. He was known to have Rheumatoid Arthritis amongst multiple other conditions and was attending to discuss what could be the cause as he was now becoming frail, tired and perplexed at why he wasn’t improving.
With the national agenda to create virtual wards has come an increasing demand to develop Hospital at Home (hospital@home, H@H) services. Guys and St Thomas’ H@H, operational since 2014, “takes the ward to the patient’s home”.
This is the seventh blog in the BGS’s ‘Timely Discharge’ series. We aim to raise awareness of the detrimental effects on older people of being stuck in hospital when they are 'medically fit for discharge'. Our blog series explores the causes of delayed discharges, the knock-on effects to the wider health and social care system, and what needs to change.
We are only as good as the sum of our parts – person-centred care for older people with complex needs is not the task of any profession alone.
In my experience I have found three types of doctors; Those who work very fast, very slow or somewhere in the middle. This is obvious and logical as human behaviour is divided on the basis of a normal distribution, with most being average.
CGA in Older People Webinar
The BGS Autumn Meeting 2023 takes place in Birmingham and online 22-24 November.
The BGS Autumn Meeting will cover the latest in evidence and best practice in the health and care of older people.
The BGS Autumn Meeting will cover the latest scientific research and the best clinical practice in care of older people. Our ageing population is stimulating extensive NHS service redesign to deal with the challenge of caring for larger numbers of older people both in and out of hospitals.
The Loneliness Strategy is Government’s first step in tackling the long-term challenge of loneliness. Loneliness is a complex issue that affects many different groups of people, and the evidence base on it is still developing.