From March 25th to the 31st, the nation celebrates doctors. Have you stopped to think about the impact doctors have had on elderly adults? Here are some of the world’s physicians who have transformed senior care and geriatric medicine throughout history.
Dr. Robert Butler
Often called “The Father of Geriatrics,” Dr. Robert Butler created the Life Review in 1961. This therapy uses past experiences for empowerment and to reduce fear and anxiety. It’s often used to help dementia patients to help evoke memories.
Another of his milestones was the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Why Survive?: Being Old in America. This book is considered one of the essential tools for people interested in geriatrics.
Finally, Dr. Butler was also the founding director of the National Institute on Aging. His entire career was dedicated to ensuring older adults were valued as continuing members of society and never deemed weak.
Dr. Lionel Cosin
Dr. Lionel Cosin was a British orthopedic surgeon in the 1950s who has one of the contributions to geriatric medicine. Dr. Cosin established the idea that staying in bed after a hip replacement surgery was the worst thing to do. He urged the importance of getting out of bed and using the new hip as quickly as possible.
Dr. Steven Counsell
Dr. Steven Counsell completed a residency in internal medicine, but he realized that older adults would be the future of medicine. After completing a fellowship in geriatrics, he was instrumental in creating the Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders (GRACE) Team Care program.
GRACE is a care management program designed to reduce hospitalizations in older adults with multiple chronic health conditions. The program utilizes home health care nurses and social workers to coordinate care needs with geriatricians and pharmacists.
Dr. T.S. Dharmarajan
In the 1990s, Dr. Dharmarajan developed a geriatric medicine program at New York’s Montefiore Medical Center. While that may seem like a simple task, the field of geriatrics was not well known.
His expertise was instrumental in creating the nation’s largest, fully-accredited geriatrics fellowship. It’s also led to many medical publications focusing on geriatrics, nutrition, and anemia in the elderly.
Dr. Ignatz Leo Nascher
While Dr. Butler is called The Father of Geriatrics, he’s not truly the first in the world. In the late-1800s, Austrian pharmacist Ignatz Leo Nascher gained his medical degree at New York University. He wrote Geriatrics: The Disease of Old Age and Their Treatment in 1914. Dr. Nascher’s experience came from his homeland, where he watched the care offered to the country’s older men and women.
Geriatric Care Is Essential
Your parents cannot ignore their changing health. If they need support to continue aging at home, make the arrangements.
Keep your parents happy and safe by arranging personal care at home. Getting older doesn’t have to be unsafe when you live alone, even if chronic health issues are in place. Call a home care agency and ask about the available personal care at home services available to your mom and dad.
Sources :
- https://www.ilcjapan.org/doc/butler_newsE.pdf
- https://www.healthandagingpolicy.org/fellows/steven-r-counsell-md-facp-agsf/
- https://www.ahrq.gov/workingforquality/priorities-in-action/grace-team-care.html
- https://www.cureus.com/users/14338
- https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/59/11/1132/589702
