NSU Horizons Fall 2006

healthcare Quality for Elders Two years ago, NSU launched the Senior Services Team to provide seamless service to the rapidly growing community of older adults living in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, said Michelle Gagnon Blodgett, Psy.D., coordinator of geriat- ric clinic services in NSU’s Health Professions Division. Blodgett points out that, according to 2000 Census data, 12.4 percent of the country’s population is 65 years old or older. Florida leads the nation with 17 percent of its popula- tion being of retirement age. “The projection right now is that by the year 2030, 20 percent will be 65 and older,” she said. As people age, their needs change, especially in regards to medical care. Health care providers must also be cognizant of cultural differences, including ethnic differences and how people view their caregivers, Gagnon Blodgett said. “I think that people in our age bracket consume services differently and have different expectations than yesterday’s generations,” Gagnon Blodgett said. “We are probably a little more savvy and knowledgeable of what we can get out of the health care system.” But that may not be so of the elders who are now in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. “Health care can be more passive for them, meaning that they may go to the doctor, and the doctor’s word is law,” Gagnon Blodgett added. “They may not ques- tion the doctor, and they may be looking to the doctor for help without even thinking about what they can do to help themselves.” Geriatricians must, in essence, act as counselors, psychologists, diagnosticians, family mediators, and patient mind-readers. Not all medical schools are preparing their graduates to deal with this approach to geriatric medicine. NSU offers one of just a handful of programs nationwide that require all third-year medical students to complete a sixmonth geriatric lecture series and a one-month rota- tion at a geriatric treatment facility, explained Naushira Pandya, M.D., C.M.D., chair of the Department of Geriatrics in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. “This is very unusual. In other schools, they get exposure to geriatrics, but it’s rolled into other things, looking only at the geriatric patient,” she said, and added that NSU also offers a fellowship program lead- ing to a board certification in geriatrics. Only 227 of 24,000 physicians entering the work force in 2000 were board certified geriatricians. “We’re behind the national mean … there is a huge shortfall of doctors specializing in geriatrics.” Doctors wishing to become certified geriatricians enter one-year fellowship programs after their resi- dency periods, during which they work under the guidance of a board certified geriatrician before they sit for a nation- al exam. Pandya said the need for geriatric specialists has become increasingly apparent. She operates clinics for geriatric patients in the Sanford L. Ziff Health Care Center on NSU’s main campus and at the clinic at the Southwest Focal Point Senior Center in Pembroke Pines. “Our college has really subscribed to developing geriatric education and clinical services for older adults in our com- munity. We feel that every student, every physician, and every specialist still needs to have a knowledge of basic geriatrics because they will encounter older adults in their practice,” she said. “They will need to be able to make referrals and to detect [various medical] conditions … and we also feel they need to be aware of their [patients’] psycho-social needs.” the unique legal issues of aging Legal issues must also be considered. According to The Florida Bar, only 70 attorneys in Florida have been certified 26 horizons