What’s Involved in Geriatric Care?

Geriatric care is designed to serve the evolving health and wellness needs of adults older than 65 but is often best suited to provide care for adults aged 75 and older. Specifically, this subspecialty of internal medicine aims to support and improve the well-being of older adults who are living with one or more of the following:

• Cognitive challenges or disability
• Physical frailty or functional limitations
• Multiple chronic health conditions  

As a board-certified internist who provides comprehensive geriatric care at Socrates A. Garrigos, MD, PA, Dr. Garrigos and our team strive to help our older patients maintain their health and independence for as long as possible. Here’s what that entails.   

Medical care that meets the challenges of aging 

Just as young children develop and grow at their rate, older adults experience the effects of aging at their own pace. At some point during the aging process, older adults’ evolving health needs require a transition from basic primary care to geriatric care.  

Longer lives, more aging

Aging adults face a myriad of unique health challenges that can make it hard to maintain full functionality and independence as time goes on. Indeed, today’s longer life expectancy means that most adults can expect to experience the effects of aging — and most adults eventually require specialized medical care tailored to their changing needs.   

Chronic illness is the norm

Most aging adults find themselves managing multiple chronic illnesses at once, such as diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, macular degeneration, and dementia. Nearly all adults (about 95%) aged 60 and older have at least one chronic health condition, while close to 80% of older adults live with two or more chronic diseases.  

Frailty and loss of function

At the same time, most adults begin experiencing some degree of frailty — and loss of ability — starting around age 75. Problems with cognition (i.e., thinking, memory), mood (i.e., depression, irritability), and bodily function (i.e., hearing and vision loss, incontinence, mobility, and balance issues) are all more common in older age.   

Four cornerstones of care in geriatric medicine 

Like internal medicine for young and middle-aged adults, geriatric medicine provides comprehensive primary care and fully coordinated specialist care for aging adults. Let’s take a close look at the four pillars of geriatric care:   

Preventive care

Older age is a significant risk factor for many health problems; prevention is a central focus of geriatric care. Preventive care becomes more critical when you have a chronic disease, like diabetes or high blood pressure, that increases your risk of developing another chronic illness, like diabetic eye disease or heart failure.  

Diagnostic care

Beyond receiving preventive care, aging adults who get regular checkups with a geriatric care specialist are better suited to catch vital medical problems early, in their most treatable stages. Dr. Garrigos provides timely and accurate diagnostic care by monitoring current health problems and examining new symptoms.     

Therapeutic care

Therapeutic care is a highly individualized component of geriatric care that encompasses chronic disease management and curative treatments for acute medical problems. These treatments include prescribing and managing medications, therapies, and lifestyle changes as needed, ensuring the prescribed treatment matches the patient’s care preferences. 

Rehabilitative care

Geriatric care employs rehabilitative treatments and therapies to cure, improve, or stabilize a condition so it doesn’t worsen. A parallel goal of rehabilitative care is preserving as much health, function, and independence as possible. 

Geriatric 5Ms: fundamental areas of caring for older adults

Dr. Garrigos takes a whole-person approach to geriatric care that evaluates and considers various facets of your well-being, from physical and cognitive to social and emotional needs. He uses this information to guide his treatments and recommendations, along with the “Geriatric 5Ms,” or the essential areas of focus in geriatric medicine:   

Multicomplexity

Health professionals who care for older adults must consider the complexities of aging and its health effects; effective geriatric care builds on a cohesive team of knowledgeable specialists and supportive caregivers.  

Mind

Another key focus area of geriatric care is mental health, including common age-related concerns like dementia, depression, confusion, and delirium. 

Mobility

Geriatric care supports the highest degree of physical function and mobility possible through gait and balance preservation and strategies for fall prevention.   

Medications

Medication management helps reduce adverse interactions and side effects in older age. Geriatric care emphasizes optimal prescribing, ensuring the quality of prescriptions serves your evolving needs, and de-prescribing or stopping unnecessary medications.    

What matters most

What matters most? Your desired health outcome goals and personal care preferences as your needs change with advancing age. 

Do you have questions about geriatric care? We have answers. Call or click online to schedule a visit at Socrates A. Garrigos, MD, PA, in McAllen, Texas, today.