Making the hospital a better place for seniors

For more than 30 years, Dr. Sharon K. Inouye has dedicated herself to the identification and prevention of delirium in the hospital. She is the founder of the widely replicated Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP). In her last video, Dr. Inouye described prevention of delirium and long-term outcomes. She now discusses the difficulties elderly patients face in the hospital. She also talks about her ongoing efforts.

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Is Mom in the Hospital? Remember the 8 Ds

Dr. Warren Wong

The hospital is a hard place for older patients. In a previous post, I described three awful things that happen too often. I was frequently asked to help care for frail older patients in the hospital. Based on these experiences, I came up with 8D's.

When you have an older loved one in the hospital, think of these 8 Ds:

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Mom’s Hospitalized – Time to Cross our Fingers

In our last post, Dr. Bruce Leff talked about Hospital at Home. When someone becomes acutely ill or injured, hospital care is needed to treat the problem.  But hospitalization causes its own problems.  One of Dr. Leff’s patients described the hospital as a “crappy hotel.” I’ll describe three things that make the hospital feel like a crappy hotel.1. Who’s in charge? 3 different doctors in 2 days???When a patient is hospitalized at night, the nighttime doctor examines the patient and writes the orders. The next morning, the doctor goes home. Another provider assumes care. However, […]