107 – Interview: A Guide to Better Medical Care for Families of Aging Adults

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In This Episode:

Dr. K talks with geriatrician Muriel Gillick MD, Professor at Harvard Medical School, about her latest book, The Caregiver’s Encylopedia: A Compassionate Guide to Caring for Older Adults. They discuss:

• Why it’s so important for family members to be informed and proactive
• Why Dr. Gillick recommends starting by understanding your relative’s overall health state
• How to recognize frailty, and why it’s essential to be aware of it
• Whether frailty can be reversed by exercise, and the pro and cons of pushing an older parent to exercise
• The importance of “goals of care”, and what to do when trade-offs become necessary
• How to ask an older person about what matters most to them
• How to let the doctors know what an older person wants from their healthcare
• How to get older adults — and healthcare professionals — to value the involvement of the family member
• The importance of someone in the family being able to advocate for better care

Related episodes: 

086 – Interview: Creating Age-Friendly Health Systems at UCSF

071 – Interview: How Estimating Life Expectancy Helps Older Adults Get Better Care

Related Resources:

• To buy Dr. Gillick’s book at a discount, visit this link at Johns Hopkins University Press and use code “HTWN” to save 30%: The Caregiver’s Encylopedia: A Compassionate Guide to Caring for Older Adults.
• Dr. Gillick’s blog: Life in the End Zone
  • April 2020 post on very high COVID mortality rates in critically ill older adults
• Dr. Gillick’s recent article in NY Times: Keeping Older People Safe During the Coronavirus Crisis
• Discussing what matters: PatientPrioritiesCare.org