FAILURE-TO-THRIVE - THE SILENT EPIDEMIC OF THE ELDERLY

Demographic changes have created the need for psychiatric nurses to ex amine knowledge and practice in the area of geropsychiatry. Older adul ts present unique challenges, The interaction of biological and psycho social problems are most evident in the oldest old and necessitate a h olistic approach. This report addresses psychosocial causes and treatm ent of ''Failure to Thrive'' (FIT) in the elderly. FTT is a label comm only used to describe a complex of nonspecific symptoms that often lea ds to increased disability and premature death. Psychiatric nurses are challenged to take a leadership role in case finding, as well as asse ssment and intervention. Copyright (C) 1995 by W.B. Saunders Company