Hospitals

Perhaps one of the biggest mysteries of the coronavirus outbreak has nothing to do with the virus itself, but rather what may be “collateral damage” from the pandemic: that is, patients who need important non-COVID-19 medical care but are not showing up at physician’s offices or hospitals. Given the guidance…

Certainly, there’s nothing new about ageism in our society. Bias against older individuals, and treating seniors as second class citizens, is something many of us have experienced as we’ve entered our later years. Perhaps what’s new, however, is the public airing of attitudes that were previously kept private, due to…

No doubt few of us like to think about being admitted to a hospital. But in today’s environment, when the health of potentially thousands of older adults is at risk, it’s important to consider what a hospitalization can do to an older patient, even one in relatively good health prior…

Emergency departments (ED) are hardly ever tranquil. But for senior citizens, the ED can be overwhelming and, in many cases, can actually do more harm than good. Many seniors are vulnerable and do not have the stamina to wait in an emergency department, where it’s not uncommon to wait an…

No one likes going to the hospital if you can avoid it. For older patients, there’s even evidence that hospitals can cause as many problems as they solve. Health experts are now beginning to chime in on what may be the death knell of modern hospitals as we’ve known them….

While you never know when an emergency will strike and you’ll need to be hospitalized, there’s much evidence to support the goal of minimizing hospitalizations, especially for those who are older. For example, new research out of the University of Michigan has shown that 1/4 of seniors admitted to post-acute…