Are there ways to help older patients who are experiencing confusion or memory loss?
With questions like these in mind, the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, developed this booklet. Although referring to clinicians throughout the text, this booklet is intended for use by a range of professionals dealing directly with patients—physicians, physicians-in-training, nurse practitioners, nurses, physician assistants, and other health care professionals. The aim is to introduce and/or reinforce communication skills essential in caring for older patients and their families. Talking With Your Older Patient: A Clinician’s Handbook offers practical techniques and approaches to help with diagnosis, promote treatment adherence, make more efficient use of clinicians’ time, and increase patient and provider satisfaction. Three points are important to remember: • Stereotypes about aging and old age can lead patients and health professionals alike to dismiss or minimize problems as an inevitable part of aging. What we’re learning from researc
