In celebration of Healthy Aging Month, PCS.ai is excited to introduce a new scenario bundle centered on elderly patient care. This gerontology simulation scenarios bundle includes six scenarios of varying complexity that allow learners to sharpen their skills to manage the unique challenges of caring for this older adult population.
Learn about the PCS Spark and different Gerontology scenarios!
You may not know it, but we’re 25 days into Healthy Aging Month. Fun fact: Healthy Aging Month was first introduced when the baby boomers were about to turn 50 (1992)! Designed to take advantage of that “back to school” intrinsic motivational urge that has been embedded in everyone from childhood, Healthy Aging Month encourages older adults to take proactive steps to improve their overall well-being.
Importance of Gerontology Education
The older adult population is growing. Worldwide, by 2030, One in six people will be aged 60 years or over (source WHO). In the US, by 2030, all Baby Boomers will be 65 or older, pushing the number of older adults to over 73 million, or more than 20% of the U.S. population. And the cherry on top? Relative to the overall population, older adults consume a disproportionately large percentage of healthcare resources.
But healthcare is a partnership. As patients strive to take a more active role in their own health, using these NIH – supported initiatives as a call to action, Healthcare providers must also rise to the growing demand for geriatric care. Research shows that adults who see a geriatrician are less likely to end up in the hospital (AARP, 2019). Geriatricians more effectively and efficiently manage older patients than doctors without such training — leading to lower inpatient death rates, shorter hospital stays, and reduced patient costs.
However, according to the American Geriatrics Society, there are just 7,300 board-certified geriatricians in the United States, which is fewer than 1% of all physicians. That is only one geriatrician for every 10,000 older patients! “The vast majority of older people are getting care from people who have little to no training in the care of older adults,” said Louise Aronson, a professor of geriatric medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and the author of “Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life.”
Taking a closer look at the field of gerontology is becoming more and more important. Providers in both primary care and emergency settings will increasingly be on the front line to address the complex health needs of the aging population, even if they are not formally trained in geriatrics. Furthermore, as patients live longer, a growing number of specialties will be required to care for this aging population. Thus, practitioners across all specialties will require the essential skills to feel confident in the delivery of competent, compassionate, and dignified care to our aging population.
Integration of Gerontology Into Health Professions Curricula
The integration of gerontology content into all health professionals’ curricula is a valuable step in the preparation of future care providers. To achieve a healthcare workforce attuned to address the needs of an older population, an imperative action is required to move from the grudgingly glacier-like acceptance of the need for geriatric and gerontological education toward the enthusiastic embrace of education as a societal priority that must be met regardless of cost and profitability (Bardach & Rowles, 2012).
PCS Gerontology Bundle
By way of support to advance healthcare education in gerontology, PCS.ai is proud to announce a new bundle of gerontology patient scenarios, with at least one patient from each stage of geriatric development. Each geriatric patient has a unique patient story with multiple branches of possible conversations and care avenues. PCS geriatric patients have distinct personalities reflective of common lived experiences for many aging individuals, complex lives with multiple conditions, and dynamic social elements.
“Geriatric patients offer valuable opportunities for critical thinking and learning due to their complex needs. Addressing aspects like home environment, cognitive health, family dynamics, grief management, psychiatric care and more, prepares practitioners to provide informed and dignified care. And, with multiple comorbidities and unique social determinants of health, working with older adults helps practitioners develop a comprehensive understanding of various care and treatment approaches, enhancing their overall competence.” Sara Turkstra, BScN, PCS Scenario Developer & AI Reinforcement Learning Specialist.
View the LEARN CE/CME Platform Webinar Unifying Healthcare Simulation Modalities: The PCS Cloud Experience to learn more!
This Gerontology Scenario package aims to refine healthcare learner’s skills in conversation, investigation, diagnosis, and care planning. Key themes include healthy aging, home care discussions, risk assessments, infectious disease protocol, geriatric mental health, social determinants of health, and many more. Overall, Gerontology package objectives include:
- Enhance communication techniques applicable to the geriatric population
- Develop investigative skills for thorough geriatric patient assessments
- Improve diagnostic accuracy across diverse clinical scenarios
- Strengthen care planning abilities for effective and individualized treatment strategies
Investment in specialized training and resources can ensure that every healthcare professional is equipped to deliver compassionate, high-quality care to older adults. Now is the time to work together to make geriatric medicine a central focus in healthcare to honor the dignity and improve the quality of life for our seniors.
More About PCS Spark
PCS Spark offers AI-driven virtual patient encounters for learners of all healthcare disciplines. These are the only virtual patients that can speak for themselves. Each PCS Spark scenario is a complete virtual persona with personal concerns, health history, and everything else you would expect to discuss during a clinical interview. All diverse and expansive patient scenarios are also crafted by PCS’s team of physicians, industry experts, and former standardized patient educators.
The PCS Speech Engine empowers PCS Spark digital patients to speak for themselves. PCS Spark digital patients can understand over 30,000 learner questions and respond with scenario-specific responses. Model-driven physiology brings life-like physiological responses to drug treatments in PCS Spark digital patients to start infusions, adjust flow rate, and administer IM/IV injections after setting dosage.
Learn More about the PCS Gerontology Scenarios!
References
- AARP, (2019). When it’s time to see a Geriatrician and how they may keep you out of the hospital.
- Bardach, S. H., & Rowles, G. D., (2012). Geriatric education in the health professions: Are we making progress? Gerontologist, 52(5), 607–618.
- World Health Organization, (2022). Ageing and health.
