Older people

“The care of older people will make up a higher proportion of the workload of GPs. Co-morbidity, difficulties in communicating, the problems of poly-pharmacy and the need for additional support for the increasingly dependent patients in general practice are important issues in the care of older people.”
RCGP Curriculum

Care of older adults -RCGP curriculum
The RCGP curriculum reflects the important role that GPs, together with other members of the primary healthcare team, have to play in the delivery of improvements in the care of older people.

BMA Adults Safeguarding Toolkit
Learn about the doctor’s role in safeguarding adults who may be at risk of abuse or neglect. This guidance will provide you with the key legal and ethical considerations you need to take into account concerning adult safeguarding, and signposts to other sources of support and information.

Resources from SCIE
Older people are the largest group of users of social care services for adults. SCIE offers resources on a wide range of topics, including practical tools to support dignity in care, equipment and telecare, medication, mental health issues (particularly dementia), nutrition plus materials for staff working in care homes.

Frailty360 is a frailty training programme that uses a unique set of  resources and an immersive approach to education to deliver key learning objectives in frailty and integrated person-centred care. It includes the

• Frailty Toolkit – a range of local resources and case studies of real examples of supported self-care in action and
• FrailtySIM – a Virtual Reality workforce development tool that improves healthcare for older people living with frailty which provides the user with the opportunity to “walk” in the shoes of an older person living with frailty.

The British Geriatric Society has published a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Toolkit for Primary Care Practitioners. The CGA toolkit explains what comprehensive geriatric assessment is, in what circumstances to use it and how it is done together with planning and involvement of social services.

Public Health England (PHE) and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine have developed an e-learning module to provide information about the benefits of physical activity for older adults and in particular those who are beginning to experience a decline in their physical function, referred to as those who are ‘in transition’. Older adults ‘in transition’ are those mainly over the age of 65 whose function is declining due to low levels of activity and too much sedentary time. They may have lost muscle strength and/or are overweight, but otherwise remain reasonably healthy. The course is free to access –apply for your unique username and password

Recognising and managing frailty in primary care
A Effectiveness Matters briefing from CRD (University of York) summarises the guidance and evidence and key actions for good management of the frail elderly in primary care.

News updates
Sign up for news updates Reshaping clinical care in General Practice – including Older People – from Oxford Health Library services. 

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The CPD Zone is brought to you by the GP schools of Health Education England working across Thames Valley and Wessex, in association with Oxford Health FT Library.​