Due to Covid-19, UNC Health outpatient clinics are “seeing” fewer patients physically. Though most facilities remain open to patients needing an in-person visit, the coronavirus crisis rapidly accelerates the use of telehealth via virtual visits between providers and patients. In this Q&A UNC Geriatrics Specialty Clinic’s Assistant Medical Director, Dr. Meredith Gilliam, talks about benefits and challenges of video visits.

Kevin Biese, MD, MAT, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine, with co-authors, has published key information on the role of the ED in diagnosis and acute management of COVID-19 in older adults.

“More than half of older adults are exposed to polypharmacy and the unfortunate thing is that those people are more susceptible to the side effects and they’re more vulnerable to drug-drug interactions. It’s important for physicians, patients, and caregivers to realistically discuss the benefits a medication can and can’t provide, and to have a plan for de-escalating or stopping certain medications.”

UNC Geriatrics Specialty Clinic’s Social Worker Bryan Godfrey speaks with WRAL’s Liisa Ogburn on why older adults seek primary care providers with geriatrics expertise. “Our providers are physicians with certifications in internal or family medicine, but they also have specialized training in geriatrics. This means they are especially attuned to the challenges older adults often face and particularly skilled in helping patients and families prepare for the road ahead.”

A recent study from Assistant Professor Joshua Niznik, PhD, PharmD, Division of Geriatric Medicine, in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society suggests de-prescribing Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors (AChEls) as a reasonable approach to lowering polypharmacy and risk of serious falls or fractures without increasing risk for all-cause negative events in nursing home residents with severe dementia. Co-authors … Read more

Meredith Gilliam, MD, MPH, was recently interviewed on WRAL about falls prevention for older adults. According to NC’s Division of Public Health, one quarter of North Carolinians 65 and over will fall in a year. Falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries in adults 65+, causing 1,094 deaths, 18,771 hospitalizations, and 78,799 Emergency Department visits in 2017.

“Geriatricians take a holistic view of the patient. We provide care that is focused on the functional activities of daily living. A patient’s chronological age is not important, their functional age is what matters. What can people do? What do they want and need to do?” Read more

Dementia patients “often forget where they are and that they are not in their home,” says Maureen Dale, MD, in Modern Health Care. “When clinicians are coming in and out of their room to do their job, it can be alarming.” Busby-Whitehead emphasizes that after the training, many staff members feel more confident speaking with patients and reorienting them.

The opening of UNC Hospital’s Hillsborough Campus in 2015 provided a unique opportunity for medicine services to expand. Ron Falk, MD, chair of the department of medicine, envisioned a service that could be accessible and comfortable to the geriatric population, combining specialized geriatric care with all of the amenities at UNC Hospital’s new Hillsborough Campus.

(Republished from the UNC Health Care and UNC School of Medicine Newsroom) Governor Cooper proclaimed Sept. 26, 2019, as ‘Dementia Friendly Hospitals Day’ in North Carolina. UNC Health Care marked this occasion by celebrating the expansion of its special training program aimed at providing better care for patients with Alzheimer’s and related dementias.