Surgeons Group Sets New Rules for Geriatric Surgery
Surgeons’ Group Sets New Rules for Geriatric Surgery Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.
Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. The need to find ways to improve the experience for older adults is increasing. More than 40 percent of all inpatient operations and 33 percent of outpatient procedures are performed on older adults each year in the United States. And that number is expected to mushroom as the boomer population ages.
Older patients are often at greater risk of functional decline. For example, for every day that an older person remains in bed, it takes three days for them to regain their strength. And their hospital stays can be disorienting.
“Patients are usually wheeled to four or five different places in the hospital within the first 24 hours alone,” says JoAnn Coleman, clinical program coordinator at the Sinai Hospital’s Sinai Center for Geriatric Surgery in Baltimore, Maryland. “And we won’t even get into being tethered to IVs and those late-night visits to have our vitals checked.”
AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > Communication is key, not only among medical team members, but among patients and their family or caregivers, whose “perspective needs to be considered since they’re the ones who will be helping with the care of the patient when they’re released from the hospital,” says Coleman.
“Older people might have other considerations when deciding on treatment,” says Rosenthal. “For some, it isn’t so important that they live another ten years, but it is important that they live to see their grandson get married, which might be months down the road. A lot of decisions are based more on the quality of their remaining time.”
Rosenthal says that surgeons tend to have a bit of a ‘fix it’ mentality: “We’re going to take this cancer out and make your life better. But for some older patients, treating an illness aggressively may make it harder for them to live their life the way they did before,” she says. “It’s important that surgeons find out what is most important in the lives of their older patients. What is a good outcome for them.”
AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. More on health AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS
Improving the Surgery Experience for Older Adults
New program focuses on hospital teamwork patient needs
MORSA IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES Being in the hospital for surgery is unsettling for anyone. But if you’re an older adult, the experience can be particularly daunting. Your operation is often complicated and cognitive issues, such as dementia, can make communication difficult. As we age we tend to have multiple health concerns and take a host of medicines, which can also add to the complexity of a surgical procedure. To try and improve surgical care for older adults, the (ACS) is launching the Program, which outlines 30 different standards of surgical care for older adults. The program is based on successful quality improvement efforts in other areas, including cancer, bariatric surgery, trauma and pediatrics.Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. The need to find ways to improve the experience for older adults is increasing. More than 40 percent of all inpatient operations and 33 percent of outpatient procedures are performed on older adults each year in the United States. And that number is expected to mushroom as the boomer population ages.
Older patients are often at greater risk of functional decline. For example, for every day that an older person remains in bed, it takes three days for them to regain their strength. And their hospital stays can be disorienting.
“Patients are usually wheeled to four or five different places in the hospital within the first 24 hours alone,” says JoAnn Coleman, clinical program coordinator at the Sinai Hospital’s Sinai Center for Geriatric Surgery in Baltimore, Maryland. “And we won’t even get into being tethered to IVs and those late-night visits to have our vitals checked.”
AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > Communication is key, not only among medical team members, but among patients and their family or caregivers, whose “perspective needs to be considered since they’re the ones who will be helping with the care of the patient when they’re released from the hospital,” says Coleman.
“Older people might have other considerations when deciding on treatment,” says Rosenthal. “For some, it isn’t so important that they live another ten years, but it is important that they live to see their grandson get married, which might be months down the road. A lot of decisions are based more on the quality of their remaining time.”
Rosenthal says that surgeons tend to have a bit of a ‘fix it’ mentality: “We’re going to take this cancer out and make your life better. But for some older patients, treating an illness aggressively may make it harder for them to live their life the way they did before,” she says. “It’s important that surgeons find out what is most important in the lives of their older patients. What is a good outcome for them.”
AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. More on health AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS