![\"<p>Mary](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/mary-carroll1_t.jpg\" "\\"Mary")
<\/a>Earle says that Michael Isaac, a geriatrics fellow at the Center on Aging who treated his mother, often scheduled Jean as his last appointment of the day to take extra time with her.<\/p>\n
“Dr. Isaac has exhibited extraordinary compassion as well as follow-up to my Mom’s case,” says Earle. “His obvious caring about my mother the person, and his availability to help at any time, has been refreshing.”<\/p>\n
Like Earle, many other caregivers will be seeking help for a family member in need of geriatric care. With the first wave of baby boomers beginning to turn 65 next year, the number of Americans aged 65 and older is estimated to nearly double in the next 20 years. Yet currently fewer than 1 percent of all physicians in the country are certified in geriatrics, according to Gail Sullivan, a professor at the UConn School of Medicine and associate director for education at the Center on Aging.<\/p>\n
The American Geriatrics Society predicts that the existing shortfall will only worsen, with about one geriatrician for every 7,665 older Americans by the year 2030.<\/p>\n
Ranking among the ‘oldest’ states is Connecticut, which the U.S. Census Bureau anticipates will have the nation’s ninth highest percentage of population aged 65 and older in 2010, making the demand on health care services across the state even greater in coming years.<\/p>\n
With its multifaceted mission \u2013 to provide clinical care for older adults; to educate the next generation of leaders in geriatrics; and to carry out research to improve older adults’ independence, function, and quality of life \u2013 the UConn Center on Aging plays a crucial role in addressing such challenges.<\/p>\n
“Aging isn’t a field where being multidisciplinary seems merely desirable and cutting-edge \u2026 When it comes to the care of older adults, it’s essential,” says Professor George Kuchel<\/a>, director of the UConn Center on Aging. Kuchel is also Citicorp Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology and chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the UConn Health Center.<\/p>\n Quality, Not Quantity<\/strong><\/p>\n Caring for older patients poses special challenges: While most remain quite healthy and independent, many others are at great risk of falling, developing dementia, and experiencing depression and anxiety. More than three-quarters develop at least one chronic medical condition \u2013 such as arthritis or diabetes \u2013 that requires ongoing care, according to the Institute of Medicine. Often, these health issues affect older adults’ ability to care for themselves on a day-to-day basis, from bathing and getting dressed to driving and taking medications.<\/p>\n “We’re particularly interested in helping our patients remain as independent as possible,” says professor of family medicine Patrick Coll, associate director for the Center’s clinical programs. “We’re emphasizing good nutrition, exercise, and social supports so that the person has a better quality of life, not just quantity of life.”<\/p>\n In seeking to help older adults delay disability and maintain their autonomy over time, the Center on Aging provides elders with healthy aging advice related to nutrition and disease prevention. Outreach programs like Powerful Aging, an exercise series designed to improve strength, endurance, mobility, and coordination in older adults, teach the benefits of an active lifestyle. Supported by an externally funded research portfolio that exceeds $30 million, the Center also conducts a diverse range of clinical, laboratory, and community-based research efforts, all ultimately intended to help older people function independently. Studies touch on such aging issues as mobility, frailty, dementia care, and incontinence, as well as hearing loss and stroke prevention.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Kuchel brought a group of interdisciplinary researchers together to focus on these issues with the Center’s first university-wide Aging Research Day. The Center’s next annual Aging Research Day in April 2011 will focus on “Improving Clinical Outcomes in Older Adults Through Research.”<\/p>\n The Center’s clinical programs include outpatient primary care clinics and geriatric hospitalist services to assure individualized care for older patients who are admitted to the Health Center’s John Dempsey Hospital. In addition, the Health Center has specialty care clinics that address specific clinical conditions, such as dementia. For instance, Coll leads the James E.C. Walker, MD, Memory Assessment Program<\/a>, which diagnoses and treats memory problems in older adults like Earle’s mother while offering guidance to family caregivers.<\/p>\n Memory disorders are common among the Center’s patients, whose average age is 83. For those with memory problems, Coll says, geriatricians are interested in determining how these disorders affect patients’ function.<\/p>\n “For someone who lives alone, what do they do for grocery shopping? Are they doing their own bills? Taking care of their own finances? Driving a car? Are they taking their medications safely? Geriatrics emphasizes these questions as part of the training,” he says.<\/p>\n![\"<p>Mary](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/mary-carroll2_lg-300x200.jpg\" "\\"Mary")
<\/a>