In an ageing society, developing high-quality healthcare for older people becomes increasingly important. This revised and updated fourth edition focuses on the key aspects of ageing and healthcare for older people, especially those with moderate to severe frailty. It has expanded sections on the key topics of frailty and medicines optimisation with evidence from critically appraised clinical trials formulated into practical guidance for management. It details the non-pharmacological management of cognitive disorders and models of person-centred care. Additional topics of acute coronary syndromes and COVID-19 have also been added in this comprehensive text for healthcare professionals.
Key Features
- Provides practical therapeutic advice including deprescribing decisions for all medication types.
- Presents statistics in more clinically meaningful ways – i.e. number needed to treat and no p-values, to aid the process of shared decision-making for clinicians and professionals.
- Includes 200 revised questions and answers throughout the text in the 'best of five' format suitable for the SCE and similar higher-training exams.
PART A: Healthcare for older people
1 Ageing
2 Care
3 Medications
4 Peri-operative medicine
5 Palliative care
Questions for Part A
PART B: Brain
6 Dementia
7 Delirium
8 Depression
9 Movement disorders
10 Stroke
Questions for Part B
PART C: Bladder and bowel
11 Urinary tract disorders
12 Bowel disorders
Questions for Part C
PART D: Falls and related topics
13 Dizziness
14 Falls
15 Syncope
16 Bones and fractures
Questions for Part D
PART E: Cardiovascular and respiratory
17 Heart failure
18 Hypertension
19 Atrial fibrillation
20 Acute coronary syndromes
21 Chest
Questions for Part E
PART F: Selected topics
- Anaemia
- Arthritis
- Cancer
- Epilepsy
- Hypothermia
- Leg ulcers
- Motor neuron disease
- Myopathy
- Pressure ulcers
- Type 2 diabetes
Questions for Part F
APPENDIX A: Rating scales
APPENDIX B: Abbreviations
APPENDIX C: Answers to questions
Biography
Dr Henry Woodford was born in York and trained in medicine at King’s College London. He is currently employed as a consultant geriatrician at Northumbria Healthcare in the northeast of England. He has a particular interest in medicine optimisation for older people and is current chair of the relevant British Geriatrics Society special interest group. Other publications include co-authoring the textbook ‘Geriatric medicine: 300 Specialty Certificate Exam questions’. Outside of work he tries to keep fit through circuit training, running and indoor bouldering. He posts occasionally on Twitter, including the cartoon strip ‘the Wholly Frail’ (@woodford_henry).
Essential Geriatrics is an excellent counter-argument to this proposition. I previously reviewed the 3rd edition back in 2016 and gave it a 5 star rating. I boldly stated “I couldn’t be more impressed”, but reader: I was wrong!
Somehow that fantastic work has been bettered. Woodford has combed through his elegant textbook and updated the evidence base, while adding in new content including Covid-19, acute coronary syndromes and improved statistical explanations – something that I always feared, but this book makes accessible. The same logical structure has been carried over, with the major topics of Brain, Bladder & Bowel, Falls, Cardiovascular & Respiratory comprising the main sections. These are augmented by what feels like “bonus content” of common issues including but not limited to leg ulcers, arthritis, anaemia, cancer and epilepsy. Pick a topic, you’ll find it.
Readers new to geriatric medicine will appreciate the first section, which introduces ageing, frailty, CGA, care approaches for older people and medications. This means that medical students and trainees who have not yet had exposure to the area can rapidly get up to speed. For trainees with some experience, they can consolidate their clinical learning with the detailed information here. I dare say that fully qualified geriatricians would be hard-pressed not to find something new. For a book to suit so many potential readers is unique, but Woodford writes with clarity and a passion that holds the reader’s attention. For consultant colleagues who are not geriatricians, his voice makes our specialty approachable and engaging.
You can test your ability to digest all this knowledge by trying out the 200 single best answer multiple choice questions – a nifty addition for anyone sitting the SCE soon (but probably a good idea for all of us!). These are high-quality questions that relate to modern topics and have been freshly written – not simply rehashed from an old database.
Any textbook of almost 500 pages can feel off-putting, but this one has been plucked from my shelf on an almost-daily basis over the past 2 months since its release. I actively like dipping in when I have a spare 5 minutes, and this is made easy by the useful “Key Points” boxes at the end of each chapter. None of my questions have remained unanswered after browsing Essential Geriatrics.
To conclude, the fourth edition is a must-buy – and if you only ever buy one book this is it. It’s like having a Professor of Geriatric Medicine on your shelf; one you’d like to retweet constantly…
Shane O’Hanlon
Consultant Geriatrician, St Vincent’s University Hospital Dublin
https://www.bgs.org.uk/blog/book-review-essential-geriatrics-fourth-edition-by-henry-j-woodford
