Educational Tool Kit
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A demographic tidal wave will break over the United States within the next few years: by 2012, an average of 10,000 Americans
will turn 65 every day. But the issue of aging in the 21st century is more than a matter of numbers. Because older patients
have more complex illnesses than younger adults, they present a unique healthcare challenge. The average 75-year-old suffers
from three chronic conditions and regularly uses five prescription drugs, as compared with the average 40-year-old, who has
no chronic condition and may use one prescription drug.
Primary care physicians must provide optimal care if older adults are to live not only longer but better lives. They are the
ones who provide the first line of treatment for older people. Unfortunately, a gap exists between what they know and what
they need to know to treat older patients.
The problem begins in US medical schools, half of which require no rotations in geriatrics, according to the Alliance for
Aging Research. And fewer than 3 percent of medical students take elective courses in that field. The geriatric information
gap also persists in clinical settings: Less than 3 percent of all practicing healthcare providers are trained to treat older
patients.
A physician survey commissioned by the Merck Institute of Aging & Health further confirms both the information gap and the
suspicion that many primary care physicians are not providing optimal geriatric care. Only half of the 250 physicians surveyed
believe that their colleagues can adequately treat such common geriatric conditions as falls, memory loss, and incontinence.
Furthermore, only about one in three believe their colleagues can treat sensory impairments. That is especially disturbing
because losses of hearing and vision correlate with decreased quality of life and increased social isolation.A mandatory geriatrics rotation in all medical schools, similar to current requirements for pediatrics, would be a welcome
start, but it isn't a panacea. Currently, there are approximately 650,000 practicing physicians in the United States, and
about 16,000 new doctors graduate from medical schools each year. If geriatric training in every medical school were instantly
required today, it would still take more than 40 years for all practicing physicians to be replaced by those with geriatric
training. Society just can't wait that long.
The quickest way to address the problem is to target primary care physicians with education efforts. However, recent evidence-based
medicine studies show that traditional approaches, such as having physicians sit in dark rooms viewing slides to earn continuing
medical education credits, are ineffective because they don't change physician behavior or result in better patient care.
Half the physicians participating in the Merck Institute survey say they use the internet to search for information to treat
older patients, so online resources should be included in education efforts.
Pharma companies can play a vital role in geriatric education by supporting independent, noncommercial educational programs
and activities. By doing so, a company can prove its commitment to older adults, enhance understanding of the aging field,
and show concern for seniors' health and well-being.
With the baby boom about to become the senior boom, bridging the geriatric information gap for primary care physicians is
one of the central challenges facing the healthcare system. But that challenge should be viewed as an opportunity-not an obstacle-and
treated as such by pharma companies.
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