HEALTH PROMOTION DISEASE PREVENTION - NEW DIRECTIONS FOR GERIATRIC EDUCATION

Prevention is a major concern in work with the Elderly, especially in outpatient or community settings, where the goal is often to prevent a dmission to hospitals or placement in long-term care institutions. Whe reas hospitals provide essential care to older adults with acute care problems, many of the more commonly experienced problems-chronic disea se, functional impairments, and case management issues-are handled in outpatient settings. Primary care practitioners in office-based practi ces and other out patient facilities need to be better prepared to add ress the special problems of ambulatory geriatric patients. In respons e to these needs, the Harvard Upper New England Geriatric Education Ce nter has developed 10 educational modules in health promotion/disease prevention: Alzheimer's Disease in Minority Elders, Dehydration in Lon g-Term Care, Diabetes Control, Elder Abuse, Geriatric Nutrition, Geria tric Oncology, Geriatric Oral Health in. Long-Term Care, Incontinence in the Elderly, Injury Prevention, and Physical Activity in the Elder ly. These areas are particularly significant to primary care practitio ners who serve rural and urban disadvantaged older adults. We provide an overview of the contents and methodologies of the 10 modules, going into further detail about two of them: Geriatric Oncology and Physica l Activity in the Elderly.