AGEC

April 23, 2019

Suicide Prevention in the Older Adult Population

By Alex Henry, BS-CD & Hannah Speer, OTD/S College of Nursing and Health Professions Arkansas State University Every day 10,000 people turn 65 years old (Heimlich & Heimlich, 2014). Because of this, the elderly adult population is increasing rapidly. Of this elderly population, 40% will need some form of long term care whether it…

Communicating with patients. What is the best strategy?

By Jacquie Rainey, DrPH, MCHES College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, University of Central Arkansas Effective communication with patients is integral to a patient and family-centered approach to care. Effective communication contains elements such as establishing rapport, gaining trust, determining readiness to learn (change), considering the patient’s perspective and asking the right questions. The question…

Behavioral problems in dementia

By Priya Priyambada, MD AGEC Geriatric Fellow Assistant Professor, College of Medicine Geriatrics University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences The elderly population is the fastest growing cohort of people in the United States. The number of Americans 65 and older is approximately 46 million presently but this number is projected to double by 2060,…

Chronic Pain Self-Management Program: A Community Approach to Build Self-Efficacy in Pain Management

By Theresa Horton, MNSc, CNP, GNP-BC Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, UAMS Chronic pain can be caused by multiple problems including disease processes, muscle tension, muscle deconditioning, lack of or poor quality sleep, stress, anxiety or other difficult emotions and even certain medications. For many a “pain cycle” appears with one symptom leading…

Melatonin Prophylaxis for Delirium

by Sathyanand Kumaran, MFSc, MS, PharmD and Lisa Hutchison, PharmD, FCCP, MPH, BCPS, BCGP University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy Delirium is a common clinical syndrome characterized by inattention and acute cognitive dysfunction and manifests clinically with a wide range of neuropsychiatric abnormalities. 1 It can occur at any age, but…

January 31, 2019

From The Director’s Desk

By Robin McAtee, PhD, RN, FACHE, Director, Arkansas Geriatric Education Collaborative (AGEC), a Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging (DWR IOA) Happy New Year from all of us at the Arkansas Geriatric Education Collaborative! I hope everyone had a wonderful…

January 30, 2019

Screening for Dementia

By Kevin Rowell, Ph.D. Department of Psychology and Counseling, University of Central Arkansas It seemed to Karen that her 78 year-old mother was having more trouble remembering people’s names, recalling the right words to use in a conversation, and driving with some confusion about which routes to take. Karen noted that her mother’s difficulties…

Tech and Aging

By Jessica Camp, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC College of Nursing & Health Professions, Arkansas State University It appears that more older adults are using technology in their daily lives (Davis, 2019). According to a study by AARP, mobile devices and computers are the primary technology used by this population (Anderson, 2017, p. 3). To a…

It’s not all sunshine and roses: Closing the rehab gap

By Christopher S. Walter, PT, DPT, PhD AGEC Geriatric Fellow Assistant Professor Department of Physical Therapy University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences – Fayetteville Have you ever considered that your current treatment of drug therapies is not working for you? If you have, you aren’t alone. In fact, the top-ten highest grossing drugs in the…

January 7, 2019

High-Risk Over-the-Counter Medications for Older Adults

By Katie Cummins, PharmD Candidate 2019 and Lisa Hutchison, PharmD, MPH, BCPS, BCGP, FCCP Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging at UAMS As our patients age, their bodies undergo physiological changes that alter their responses to many drugs. Kidney and liver function decline so that some drugs stay in the body longer or accumulate to…