Geriatric services
Jodi Friedman gave a rundown on the services of the center she directs. The center supports various groups and provides community outreach and education, Friedman said.
Doctors and other staff consult with patients in the hospital as well as do outpatient consultations consisting of a full geriatric assessment which can be sent to the patient’s primary-care doctor. Transitional care for patients going home from the hospital is a particularly valuable service, given that patients can fall through the cracks, said Friedman. “I see them back at home and make sure there’s no confusion with their meds and all the necessary services are in place.”
The need for the Rhinebeck facility should mushroom over the next decade, she said, given that the most significant population growth in the region will occur for people age 65 and older. Overall the population for age 65 to 84 will increase by 34 percent; age 85 and up will increase by almost 27 percent in the service area (given the life expectancy figures, most will be women), Friedman noted.
Since Medicare now pays for preventive visits, seniors should have various cancer screenings along with their annual physical. They should be checked for susceptibility to a host of chronic diseases ranging from hypertension to depression, and debilities particularly related to a possible fall. They should also keep up to date on immunizations.
Exercise is, of course, very important, Friedman said. She recommends cross-training, a combination of aerobics (half an hour a day most days of the week is recommended) and resistance training, such as yoga or tai chi, for strength and flexibility (recommended two to three times a week). She also recommended a Mediterranean diet, which is plant-based and has fewer servings of red meat than the typical American diet. She said supplements for vitamins B, B-12, calcium, and D are a good idea, given that deficiencies increase with age.
Sleep tends to be more fragmented for older people, but Friedman recommended against using drugs to help sleep. Mental fitness is another concern. To retain mental acuity, people should consciously try to learn something new every day and keep up their social life; both these activities have been shown to decrease cognitive decline, she said.
It’s never too late to quit smoking, and she doesn’t recommend more than one drink per day for the over-65 crowd. (People can tolerate less alcohol when they’re older, and women tend to have less tolerance than men.)
Noting that accidents were the ninth most prevalent cause of death in older patients, she said seniors should also exercise care when they’re out and about. Numb feet and arthritis are two common causes of debilitating falls, so these conditions should be treated.
