Clinical Geriatrics

In this issue, we are pleased to inaugurate a new feature aimed at helping our readers educate their patients about important medical topics that affect them daily: “Tip Sheets for Older Adults” and “The Patient Education Forum” from the American Geriatrics Society Foundation for Health in Aging (FHA) Aging in the Know website. These will appear in this and future issues as convenient informational resources written specifically for the older patient. Topics will include vaccination tips (which appears on pages 9 and 10 in this issue of Clinical Geriatrics), hot weather and winter safety tips, as well as information on arthritis pain, visual impairment, and end-of-life care, to name a few. The FHA, launched in 1999 by the AGS, is the first national public organization devoted solely to the special healthcare needs of older adults. Its goal is to “build a bridge between the research and practice of geriatrics health care professionals and the public, and to advocate on behalf of older adults and their special needs: wellness and preventive care, self-responsibility and independence, and connections to the family and community.”

We encourage you to reproduce these patient education pages and share them freely. We hope that they will be an added source of timely and relevant healthcare information, and will provide a tool for keeping the lines of communication open between you and your patients.
As always, we welcome your comments.

Send comments to Dr. Gambert at medwards@hmpcommunications.com

Additional information on Aging in the Know, the “One-Stop Shop” for people who find themselves dealing with older adult health issues, can be found on their website at www.healthinaging.org/agingintheknow including:

• Information on specific diseases and disorders that affect many older adults;
• Direct linkages organized by health topic to other credible resources on the Web;
• “What to Ask” series providing disease and condition-specific questions that older adults or their caregivers can use to guide their healthcare conversations with their clinicians;
• “Latest Research” feature that provides easy-to-understand summaries of recent clinical investigations published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS);
• FHA “Tip Sheets for Older Adults” on various seasonal and timely topics are released throughout the year and featured on the home page of Aging in the Know.
• A directory containing the full contact information of federal government agencies and national not-for-profit organizations that address the special healthcare needs of older adults.