Forum Session Announcement - Geriatric-Friendly Emergency Departments: Better Options for Patients and Providers?

Forum Session Announcement - Geriatric-Friendly Emergency Departments: Better Options for Patients and Providers? F O R U M S E S S I O N Geriatric-Friendly Emergency Departments: Better Options for Patients and Providers?FEBRUARY 19, 2016 For patients and their family members, a visit to the emergency department (ED) can induce some elements of fear and disorientation, along with the physical pai. [...] The substandard care delivered to older adults may originate from differences in the type of care needed for geriatric patients versus the type of care envisioned as the ED model developed. [...] The Hartford Foundation, in concert with the University Association of Emergency Medicine (now the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, SAEM) began in the 1990s to establish a research base and develop educational initiatives related to older ED patients. [...] These efforts proceeded slowly, culminating in the collaborative creation and 2013 endorsement of a set of Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines by SAEM, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the American Geriatrics Society (AGS), and the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA). [...] Kevin Biese, MD, of the University of North Carolina described his work with the geriatric boot camp initiative for hospitals and the growing interest in a geriatric-friendly orientation in EDs around the country.