Main description:

Learn how to talk and listen to your elderly clients

Pharmacy Practice in an Aging Society examines the aspects of aging that transcend physical and biological changes, addressing practical concerns such as communication, understanding values, and end-of-life issues. This unique book provides pharmacists with the basics on how to enhance their service to the elderly and offers additional suggestions for improving the empathy and understanding they have for their patients. The book explores general health and pharmacy concerns of the elderly, including abuse, neglect, sexuality, stress, and addictions, and presents methods of helping seniors stay healthy through exercise and with appropriate interventions. 34 figures, tables, and exhibits make complex information easy to access and understand.

Fewer than five percent of persons over 65 end up in a nursing home, and many stay only long enough to recover or rehabilitate before returning home. The other 95 percent need our attention and our care. Pharmacy Practice in an Aging Society helps pharmacists develop the special tools they need to deal with the elderly, identifying the most challenging areas, and providing effective frameworks for addressing them. The book also includes sidebars that summarize important ideas, including:

"Communication" choosing the right words when delivering difficult or even unwelcome information to patients

"Ethics on the Spot" anticipating difficult questions and determining if information is appropriate to pass along to a patient

"Statistics at a Glance" comparative statistics presented in a way that makes a point

"Cutting Edge" current research findings and what they mean to your patients

"Too Late Now" when changing a patient's behavior or adding a medication is unlikely to help

"Then and Now" compares past treatment and approaches with current ones

and much more!

Pharmacy Practice in an Aging Society is an essential resource for community and hospital pharmacists, educators, and anyone else with an interest in health.

Contents:

Foreword (Dorothy L. Smith)

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. A Graying Landscape

Who's Who?

Elders' Demographics

Developing Competence

Conclusion

Chapter 2. The Challenge of Disease in the Elderly

Before Age Twenty

The Twenties and Thirties

The Forties

The Fifties

The Sixties and Beyond

Conclusion

Chapter 3. Say What? Communicating with Elders

Communicating Verbally with the Average Senior

Setting the Stage

Communicating in Writing

Elderspeak

Unique Communication Issues with Dementia

Communicating with Agitated Patients

Conclusion

Chapter 4. Exercise and Aging

Aging and Muscle Loss

Classic Studies

Methodological Considerations

Exercise, Falls, and Osteoporosis

Cardiovascular Health

Immune Function and Cancer

Mental Health

Conclusion

Chapter 5. Lifestyle Drugs: Enhancing Life or Eradicating Ugliness?

What Are Lifestyle Drugs?

Lifestyle Drugs: Profit or Expense?

Managing Lifestyle Drugs

Location, Location, Location

Cost, Safety, and Confidentiality

Conclusion

Chapter 6. Addiction

Right Under Your Nose: Legal Drug Abuse

Nicotine

Alcohol: Drug or Social Amenity?

Chapter 7. Elder Abuse

What Is It?

Frequency and Costs

Detecting Abuse

What Causes Abuse?

A Word About Self-Neglect

Conclusion

Chapter 8. Sexuality

Expression Without Exploitation

Is There Sex After

Caregiver Attitudes

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Women's Reproductive Organs

Male Menopause?

Conclusion

Chapter 9. Stress

Stress, Stressors, and Worry

Depression

Conclusion

Chapter 10. Lost Minds

Memory

Metacognition

Dispelling Myths

Mild Cognitive Impairment

Delirium versus Dementia

Assessment

Drug-Induced Cognitive Impairment

Conclusion

Chapter 11. Death, the Great Equalizer

End-of-Life Care

Autopsy

Cleaning Out the Medication Cabinet

Conclusion

Index

Reference Notes Included