The fifth edition of this widely used book by caregivers brings to you updated and revised content, built on the basic understanding that medicine does not work in a vacuum, but rather alongside other disciplines to provide the environment for a healthy and fulfilling long life. Edited by alumni and senior faculty at McGill University, with international contributions, this book advocates the achievement of better, longer, satisfying, and more productive lives for older persons. It is a helpful resource for physicians, professional caregivers, therapists, students, and residents in medical and nursing disciplines, who care for our burgeoning older population and need to know what to look for and when to consult specialists.
Key Features:
1. Follows a uniform structure with many chapters having a hypothetical vignette for instructional purposes and with the clinical chapters detailing the features and diagnosis of given conditions, along with possible management protocols specific to afflicted older individuals.
2. Builds on the success of the previous four editions to provide high-quality content from international experts for physicians and other caregivers in the field.
3. Provides possible management for pressing problems, including the nursing home challenge, pandemics such as COVID, and precision therapy for cancer.
DISCLAIMER
EDITORS/CONTRIBUTORS
CONTRIBUTORS
HELPING
1. Introduction
Jose A. Morais
2. Caring for the older person
Abraham Fuks
3. Frailty
Sathya Karunananthan and Howard Bergman
4. Physical activity as a countermeasure to frailty
Guy Hajj Boutros and Antony D. Karelis
5. Doctor, my spouse is getting forgetful
Serge Gauthier
6. Update on Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and management
Serge Gauthier
7. Navigating the journey of dementia as a caregiver
Claire Webster
8. How to diagnose and manage delirium
Haibin Yin
9. Why does my patient have gait & balance disorders?
Olivier Beauchet
10. Could my patient be malnourished?
Jose A. Morais
11. Dental care in older persons
Michael Wiseman
12. Eating, drinking and swallowing problems of vulnerable older adults
Heather C. Lambert
VULNERABILITY
13. Architecture and the aging
Julia Gersovitz and Boris Morin-Defoy
14. Are the immunizations of my patient up to date?
Dominique Tessier
15. Management of older patients in the emergency department: this man is old, but is it an emergency?
Cyrille Launay
16. Critical care of the older person
Astrid F. Pilgrim and Michael R. Pinsky
17. COVID-19 in long-term care
Julia Chabot, Philippe Desmarais and Michael Stiffel
CARING
18. Arthritis in the older person
Linda Yue, Kevin Yip and Joseph A. Markenson
19. Stroke prevention in the elderly
Liam Durcan
20. Advances in cardiac care for older persons
P. David Myerowitz
21. Could my patient be at risk of orthostatic hypotension?
Eric T. Hedge and Carmelo Mastrandrea
22. The care of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in older adults
Bryan Ross and Jean Bourbeau
23. How do I manage my patient with peripheral arterial disease?
Oren K. Steinmetz and Anna Eva Kinio
24. How to manage type 2 diabetes in frail elderly patients
Young-Sang Kim and José A. Morais
25. Hepatobiliary considerations, including cancer
Erica C. Roth, Sunil S Karhadkar and Antonio di Carlo
26. Abdominal organ transplantation in the older person
Antonio di Carlo and Sunil Karhadkar
CANCER
27. Cancer in older adults
Doreen Wan-Chow-Wah
28. Cancer screening in the older adult
Catalina Hernandez Torres and Tina Hsu
29. Diagnosis and management of bowel cancer
Jessica Holland and Barry L Stein
30. Precision Medicine and Care of the Older Patient
Anne Croudass and Donald White
31. Psycho oncology: living with the fear of death
Norman Straker
CONSIDERATIONS
32. Incontinence in older adults
Samer Shamout and Lysanne Campeau
33. Sleep disorders in older persons
Shachi Tyagi
34. Polypharmacy and deprescribing in the elderly
Louise Mallet
35. After the menopause
Ronald M. Caplan
36. The senior adult eye
Peter M. Odell
37. Hearing loss and aging
Joseph J. Montano
38. Skin care of the older person: the skin and its associated changes
Aziz Khan and Hao Feng
39. Caring for the older person undergoing plastic surgery
Subhas Gupta and Erin O’Rorke
UNDERSTANDING, PROTECTING
40. Elder abuse
Mark J. Yaffe
41. Late-life anxiety
Jess Friedland, Paulina Bajsarowicz and Philippe Desmarais
42. An overview of late-life depression
Artin Mahdanian and Silvia Monti De Flores
43. Assessment of decision-making capacity
Catherine Ferrier
44. How can older people be protected?
Randy S. Perskin
45. Financial guidance for seniors
Karen C. Altfest
46. The role of religious belief in the end-of-life care of older persons
A. Mark Clarfield
MEDICAL TERMS
Medical terms and their meaning: Glossary
Ronald M. Caplan
Bibliography & Supplemental Bibliography
Biography
Dr Ronald M. Caplan is Clinical Associate Professor Emeritus at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is an Obstetrician Gynecologist and medical author. He is a founding Editor of The Care of the Older Person, along with distinguished McGill Faculty members Olivier Beauchet,MD; Howard Bergman, MD; Abraham Fuks, MD; Serge Gauthier, MD, Phil Gold, MD and Jose Morais, MD.
A readable, engaging and thought-provoking book that offers a broad overview of ageing and aged care,while at the same time providing detailed and relevant clinical information.
Glenn Duns, MDCM, FRACGP,MPH, Melbourne
The new Fifth edition of The Care of the Older Person, written by eminent experts, details stumbling blocks and disease processes encountered by older people, including frailty and loss of mental acuity. Strategies to mitigate, and even avoid, such conditions, including possible changes in lifestyle, which I have spent a lifetime advocating, are detailed, as well as how to care for persons who are living with such conditions.
Joe De Sena, Founder and CEO of Spartan
The fifth edition of The Care of the Older Person, edited by Ronald Caplan, MD, and authored by McGill faculty, is an excellent resource for the improvement of health and nutrition and the diagnosis and treatment of disease in the geriatric patient. Brief clinical vignettes solidify the principles covered in each chapter and highlight differences in this population. As we enter the “older person” age group, I greatly appreciate the authors’ and editor’s careful attention to all the elements of patient care, from assessment with the frailty index to application of care pathways ensuring optimal outcomes despite multiple comorbidities, impaired physiologic reserve and functional status. Ethical issues and patient values are also well incorporated into decision-making. I recommend this book to all those interested in the care of this vulnerable population-physicians, advanced care providers, nurses and students.
Mary C. McCarthy, MD, FACS, MAMSE
Professor Emeritus
Wright State University School of Medicine
The Care of the Older Person is a remarkable book on many levels. In addition to being clearly written, it explores areas that do not even appear on the average practitioner’s radar. There is an entire chapter on the many aspects of building a residence for older people; there is another chapter on the relative merits of cancer screening for this and that condition; there is a chapter on the psychology of getting older, becoming disabled, and obviously, coming closer to dying. These are topics that many practitioners would rather leave to others. Yet, as the saying goes, no snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. All practitioners (except perhaps pediatricians) need a passing knowledge of the information in this book. I can well see this work becoming part of medical school curricula.
Ronald Grelsamer, Clinical Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY.
