Geriatrics: Partners for a lifetime of care

Geriatric primary care provides a team-based approach to managing your chronic conditions, helping you when an illness or injury takes you by surprise, and helping you age well.

The Memory Assessment Clinic is for patients typically over the age of 65. Comprehensive consultations for memory disorders occur with our care team (geriatric provider, social worker, and neuropsychologist) Patients who would benefit are those with any of the following concerns:

• Memory loss

• Impaired problem-solving

• Atypical features of dementia

• Evidence for declining functional status related to cognitive issues

• Cognitive changes

• Associated behavior problems

Our Acute Care for Elders (ACE) team provides care, support, and education to patients 60 years and older and their families. If you are a person caring for a loved one who is currently hospitalized, or if you are currently experiencing stress during a hospital stay, members of our ACE team provide a holistic approach to care, from disease management and prevention to functional rehabilitation and transitions of care.

A 360-degree health evaluation

Our ACE team members perform comprehensive health evaluations and coordinate resources across medical specialties. Each patient receiving support from ACE has a multidisciplinary care team:

• A geriatrician

• Advanced practice providers

• Clinical nurse specialist

• Social worker

• Pharmacist

• Physical therapist

Regular follow-up: The cornerstone of our ACE consult services are the daily discussions, where the full multi-disciplinary care team reviews patient status and shares recommendations.

Plan of care

ACE geriatric consultations can be requested by physicians before, during or shortly after a patient is admitted to the hospital.

The ACE team then collaborates with all health professionals on all facets of care for the older adult, the team meets daily to discuss concerns about each patient, including common geriatric problems such as:

• Mental or memory changes

• Falls and mobility

• Medication management

• Living at home longer

Our ACE team is also available to provide support and education to patients and family caregivers on other aging-related needs. The team consists of:

• Medical providers

• Clinical nurse specialist

• Social worker

• Physical therapist

• Pharmacist

We provide services to keep your care consistent when you change care settings. Learn more

Our Geriatric Assessment Consult Care Team (geriatric provider, nurse case manager, social worker) provide a comprehensive consultation to understand patient history, current health concerns and symptoms and changes in physical or mental stability.

The Geriatric Assessment Clinic is for our older adults, typically over the age of 65, with complicated health profiles that might include:

• Decline in functional status and/or declined capacity for self-care

• History of recent or frequent past falls

• Early or progressive memory recall

• Complex medications, including a history of adverse drug reactions

• Late-life depression, anxiety, sleep issues and/or other psychiatric difficulties

Many people have a friend or relative who has fallen or have fallen themselves. Falls are one of the most common unfortunate events among older patients. Geriatric patients who are 65 years and older with weakness, frailty, poor vision, foot numbness, medication interactions and disorders like dementia are at higher risk for falling; these events can often result in an injury that could increase the risk of complications and mortality, particularly among older adults. The Mobility and Falls Clinic is for our older adults who are experiencing:

• Recurrent falls with or without physical injury

• Fear of falling with functional consequences

• Declining mobility and function

Being referred to our Mobility and Falls Clinic allows for our multidisciplinary team (geriatrician, social worker, physical therapist) to review your history, symptoms and current mobility.

A comprehensive consultation will allow our team to recommend a physical activity program, walking aides and footwear, home modifications, medication adjustments and other suggestions to prevent future falls. Patients will be evaluated to determine if it is beneficial to schedule additional physical therapy to decrease the risk of falling.

Our Perioperative Optimization of Senior Health Clinic is recommended for patients over the age of 60 who are referred by their surgeons for assistance in preparing for complex surgeries such as knee replacement, shoulder joints, hip joints, etc.

Older adults have a greater risk of certain health complications during and after surgery; this is why our POSH team (geriatric provider, social worker, nurse care manager, pharmacist) is consulted to help prepare for the best outcomes before surgery, during hospital rehabilitation and after surgery for a healthy recovery. Surgery categories include:

• Gastrointestinal oncology surgeries

• Gynecological oncology surgeries

• Vascular surgeries

• Cancer-related surgeries

In order to assure a safe discharge POSH patients are followed in the hospital by the ACE inpatient geriatric team to plan for your recovery, discussing:

• Medications

• Nutrition

• Cognition

• Mobility

• Functional status

• Mood

• Social support

• Pain

• Anticipated outcomes

• Comorbidities

• Social support

• Advance care planning
  

The center focuses on improving early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. We work to identify risk and protective factors and find ways to delay and slow Alzheimer’s. Learn more

The institute houses one of the world’s largest and longest-running studies of people at risk for Alzheimer’s disease, the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP). WRAP follows 1,580 people to learn about factors that impact Alzheimer’s. We share our data with other researchers. Learn more