Geriatrics Evaluation and Management Tools: A New Feature for Readers From the American Geriatrics Society

Providing high-quality care for older adults, many of whom have multiple complex chronic conditions, requires specific knowledge and skills. The current healthcare system is already overwhelmed by demands for geriatric care in a variety of settings, and these demands continue to increase as our population ages. Since healthcare professionals with specialized training in geriatrics cannot meet the current demand, let alone the projected need, it is vital for all healthcare professionals who care for older adults to have access to information and resources that address the geriatrics knowledge base. To meet this need, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) has created resources for professionals in all disciplines and specialties that provide care to older adults. We are pleased to share one of these resources, the GEM tool series, with readers of Annals of Long-Term Care: Clinical Care and Aging^® (ALTC).

GEM is an acronym for geriatrics evaluation and management. The GEM tools are clinical templates that follow a history and physical (H&P) format. They are designed to guide healthcare professionals in the evaluation and management of a variety of geriatric conditions. They can be used as a quick consult for those with more experience in geriatric care, as a reminder checklist for providers with less experience, and as a teaching tool for students, residents, and fellows.

The GEM tools were created by a subcommittee of the AGS/Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs Education Committee using evidence-based recommendations derived from various AGS resources. They are designed to serve as a reference guide and do not offer comprehensive information about the geriatric conditions they address. More detailed information on these conditions can be found in the AGS resources that served as the source material for the GEM tool series. These resources include: Geriatrics At Your Fingertips, an annually updated pocket guide to geriatrics, now in its 16th edition; the Geriatric Review Syllabus (GRS), a comprehensive geriatrics reference, now in its 8th edition; the GRS Teaching Slides, based on the content of each GRS chapter and modifiable for educational purposes; and Assessing Care of Vulnerable Elders Quality Indicators (J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007;55[S2]). These and other practical geriatrics resources and tools are available on the AGS product portal at GeriatricsCareOnline.org.

Beginning with this issue of ALTC, we will be including samples of some of our GEM tools. Current tools cover the following topics:

• Appropriate prescribing

• Benign prostatic hyperplasia

• Delirium

• Dementia

• Dementia-related behavioral problems

• Falls

• Frailty

• Insomnia

• Major depressive disorder

• Osteoporosis

• Pressure ulcers

• Urinary incontinence

We will be adding additional topics on an ongoing basis. We hope that you will find these tools useful in your clinical work with older adults. To that end, we welcome input from ALTC readers on topics that will be of particular use in your work in long-term care settings. Please feel free to send comments and suggestions to Jill Akavan, AGS Communications Manager, at jakavan@americangeriatrics.org. We look forward to hearing from you!

Wayne C. McCormick, MD, MPH, AGSF

President, American Geriatrics Society

Access the first GEM tool in the series, which focuses on pressure ulcers, here>>