Geriatric medicine : an evidence-based approach

From gut feeling to evidence base: the development of health care for older people: drivers and barriers -- Re-thinking care in later life: the social and the clinical -- Health and social care services for older people: achievements, challenges and future directions -- Service models -- Therapeutics in older people -- Dementia and memory clinics -- Frailty challenges and progress -- Incontinence, the sleeping geriatric giant challenges and solutions -- Depressions in later life: heterogeneity and co-morbidities -- Substance misuse and older people: a question of values -- Sleep in older people -- Assessment and management of pain in older adults -- Stroke Units: research in practice -- Stroke care: what is in the black box? -- Involving older people in the design and conduct of clinical trials: what is patient and public involvement? -- Under-representation of older people in clinical trials.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

People are living longer and the population over the age of 60 is burgeoning, with repercussions for health services and healthcare expenditure in developed countries. Crucially, disease aetiology, diagnosis, and treatment in older people differ from the general adult population. Older people often have complicated co-morbidities and respond to treatment in different ways compared to younger people. Evidence of efficacy of different treatments is often lacking because older people are under-represented in clinical trials, and the specific needs of older people are rarely discussed specifically in more general texts. Geriatric medicine: an evidence based approach is a clinical reference for health care professionals who manage older patients, and summarizes up-to-date research literature in a style that can be directly applied by busy healthcare professionals and provide a useful resource for reference.