Geriatric Doctors: Specialized Expertise for Healthy Aging

Geriatric doctors have specialized expertise that can help older adults age healthily. Geriatrics is a branch of medicine that focuses on the unique situations of aging people, including the management of diseases and conditions that present later in life. A geriatric doctor focuses on seniors’ needs and often advocates for optimal aging and person-centered care. Here, we explain what geriatric doctors do and how their specialty can help you or your aging loved one have the highest possible quality of life.

How Geriatric Doctors Promote Healthy Aging

Doctors specializing in geriatrics have an age-positive skill set, helping older adults to:

• Remain mentally and physically active.
• Thrive regardless of health problems.
• Maintain functional independence.
• Avoid or limit the need for prescription medications.
• Complete advance health care directives, such as a living will or a health care power of attorney.

The Specialized Training of Geriatricians

Geriatricians have specialized training in addition to their work in family practice or internal medicine, undergoing additional fellowship years beyond their medical residencies. This special training acknowledges both the benefits and challenges of aging. They often work collaboratively with other licensed clinicians dedicated to the health care of older people, like registered nurses, clinical pharmacists, and adult-geriatric nurse practitioners.

Core Principles of Geriatric Care

The person-centered approach of geriatrics holds the older adult as a complete person with lived experience and an equal partner in health care decision-making. Let’s look at a few principles of geriatric care:

• Aging is a normal part of life. Being older is not a “sentence” of ill health and disability. Physical setbacks and other health changes are treated or supported. Wellness in later life is attainable.
• Coordinating health care is lifesaving. Medical errors result from poor communication and unnecessary or overlapping treatments, according to the National Quality Forum. As a protective measure, geriatric team-based care can advocate for patient preferences and manage most health problems across various settings.
• The adult and their family are crucial to decision-making. The patient is an equal partner in their care. Loved ones and caregivers are also important players in the health and safety of the older adult. Growing older often brings retirement and may involve relocation or the loss of a spouse. Seniors can feel isolated, so identifying their chosen support system is key.

Chronic Disease Management

Developing multiple health problems is not an inevitable part of aging, but geriatricians are experts at chronic disease management. They also can help family members care for an older person with many illnesses. Below are examples of conditions geriatricians can help manage:

Older adult patients and their families also should focus on other components of health care, like exercise and nutritional programs, mental health support, and transitions to senior living communities or care facilities. Geriatric practitioners often have the knowledge and resources to help with such referrals.

Other Specialists Within Geriatrics

Several other geriatric professionals contribute meaningfully to geriatric care:

• Gerontologists are educators and social scientists who study the impacts of aging on society and culture.
• Geriatric psychiatrists work to diagnose and treat mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment, and substance use disorders in the older population.
• Geropsychologists also focus on the mental well-being of older adults by conducting research, providing counseling, and performing neuropsychological testing.
• Adult-geriatric nurse practitioners are advanced-practice nurses with medical and nursing expertise regarding the care of seniors and their families.
• Geriatric pharmacists work exclusively with older adults and their care teams to ensure safe prescribing of medications.