Geriatric Failure to Thrive: A Multidimensional Problem

Course #69204 -

Overview

As the number of elderly patients increases, nurses and other healthcare providers must become knowledgeable about the special healthcare needs of the geriatric population. Undesired weight loss and malnutrition in the elderly are significant problems, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. Residents of skilled nursing facilities are at special risk. Geriatric failure to thrive is a diagnosis commonly used in geriatrics, and the four chief characteristics are impaired physical function, malnutrition, depression, and cognitive impairment. Participants who complete this course will learn about the identification, evaluation, and assessment of geriatric failure to thrive, including use of the Mini Nutritional Assessment, the Mini Mental Status Evaluation, and the Geriatric Depression Scale. Diagnostic/laboratory and physical assessment skills will be reviewed with a focus on weight-loss assessment. Creation of a multidisciplinary treatment plan with review of pharmaceutical options will be explored. This will give the healthcare professional the knowledge and tools necessary to identify this syndrome early. This activity will help promote better health outcomes for the geriatric population by education of the care providers and with the promotion of evidence-based practice.

Education Category: Geriatrics
Release Date: 04/01/2024
Expiration Date: 03/31/2027

Table of Contents

Audience

This intermediate course is designed for psychologists who work in or are interested in learning more about geriatrics.

Accreditations & Approvals

Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

Designations of Credit

NetCE designates this continuing education activity for 5 credit(s).

Course Objective

The purpose of this course is to educate psychologists regarding geriatric failure to thrive and to promote evidence-based clinical practice when caring for patients with this condition.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

  1. Define the various conditions responsible for unintended weight loss in geriatric patients, including geriatric failure to thrive.
  2. Analyze various ethical and legal issues that can arise when treating geriatric failure to thrive patients and the role of advance directives in ameliorating some of these issues.
  3. Outline necessary components of the physical assessment and differential diagnosis of geriatric failure to thrive.
  4. Evaluate the role of polypharmacy in unintended weight loss in elderly patients.
  5. Describe the role of mental health screening in geriatric failure to thrive patients.
  6. Create a treatment plan for a geriatric failure to thrive patients, including possible pharmacotherapy approaches and areas for monitoring and follow-up.
  7. Identify geriatric failure to thrive patients for whom hospice referral should be considered.

Faculty

Susan Waterbury, MSN, FNP-BC, ACHPN, entered the medical field in 1985 as a certified medical assistant and basic x-ray operator. She achieved her RN in 1990 and practiced in a variety of settings, including hospital, home health care, and hospice. Ms. Waterbury achieved her BSN in 1996 and her MSN as a Family Nurse Practitioner in 1999. She was board-certified as an FNP-BC in 2000 and has practiced in family practice, geriatrics, corporate leadership, hospice, and palliative care settings. She holds RN and NP licenses in Florida and Arizona.

In addition to her clinical roles, Ms. Waterbury continues to play an active role in educating and mentoring nurses and healthcare professionals. She has been a faculty member of the University of Phoenix since 2015, teaching in the nurse practitioner and MSN programs. She develops and presents educational programs for a variety of healthcare organizations and community groups.

Faculty Disclosure

Contributing faculty, Susan Waterbury, MSN, FNP-BC, ACHPN, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.

Division Planner

Margaret Donohue, PhD

Division Planner Disclosure

The division planner has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.

Director of Development and Academic Affairs

Sarah Campbell

Director Disclosure Statement

The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.

About the Sponsor

The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.

Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.

Disclosure Statement

It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.

Technical Requirements

Supported browsers for Windows include Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0 and up, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 and up, Opera 9.0 and up, and Google Chrome. Supported browsers for Macintosh include Safari, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 and up, Opera 9.0 and up, and Google Chrome. Other operating systems and browsers that include complete implementations of ECMAScript edition 3 and CSS 2.0 may work, but are not supported. Supported browsers must utilize the TLS encryption protocol v1.1 or v1.2 in order to connect to pages that require a secured HTTPS connection. TLS v1.0 is not supported.

Implicit Bias in Health Care

The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.

Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.