37342 - Medical Clinic of Aging (A-K)

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Single cycle degree programme (LMCU) in Medicine and Surgery (cod. 8415)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the module the student:

- knows the demographic data of the Italian population and the general international indications in the geriatric field, with an ethical and assistance value;

- knows the methodological bases of clinical reasoning to diagnose large geriatric syndromes, slow-moving systemic diseases and comorbidities;

- can apply to the patient the principles of differential diagnosis and prognosis for diseases and syndromes of greater severity and prevalence in the elderly of our country;

- knows how to frame the health status of the old, understood as a person, as a patient and as a subject inserted in specific contexts (home, hospital, nursing home, RSA);

- knows how to integrate old patient management strategies with each other, using all available human and technological resources and facilities;

- can communicate with the elderly patient, with his relatives and with the professional health figures, in particular on the subject of death, suffering and decay;

- knows indications and contraindications of the main diagnostic and therapeutic measures, including invasive, in adults, in the elderly and in the ultra-octogenarian;

- knows how to set up therapeutic programs, also oriented towards prevention and rehabilitation, for the most frequent geriatric syndromes according to international guidelines;

- can use the main means of e-care, telemedicine, e-health, computerized medical record, etc. that can be used in geriatric medicine.

Course contents

1. Aging processes at the cellular and tissue level; the aging of organs and apparatuses. Demography of aging and society.

2. Changes in body composition in aging. Malnutrition and swallowing disorders. Obesity and sarcopenia.
3. Geriatric multidimensional evaluation as a basic methodology for dealing with the problems of the elderly. Most common tools for evaluating the elderly patient (MMSE, GDS, ADL, IADL).
4. Functional consequences of aging. Relations between functions, health and disability: their social impact; more frequent causes of disability and their classification. Fragility.
5. Services for the elderly and care settings; integration with social assistance.
6. The great geriatric problems:
. polypathology and iatrogenesis
- urinary and faecal incontinence
- cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases in the elderly
- difficulty in motility, disequilibrium, falls
- causes, prevention and treatment of bedsores
- delirium, depression and dementia
- isolation from communication deficits due to organ damage
(sight, hearing)
- musculoskeletal and osteoporosis diseases
- diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome
- dehydration
7. Prevention and rehabilitation in geriatrics: their implementation in an extra-hospital setting
8. The clinically atypical manifestations of diseases: how to appropriately investigate the elderly patient (anamnesis and multidimensional geriatric evaluation as methods to detect needs, problems and effectiveness of their treatment). How to evaluate the quality of care and assistance, how to evaluate the results.
9. How to properly prescribe drugs to the elderly: interactions and adverse effects; how to evaluate their effectiveness. Palliative care, pain, therapeutic fury, death.
10. Territorial services for the elderly: how they work and how they interact. Appropriate use of services. How to achieve successful aging.
11. Medical-legal problems: abuse, protection, cardiorespiratory resuscitation.

Timetable of the lessons according to the timetable of the semester lessons.

Readings/Bibliography

One of these three books in italian:

Bosello Ottavio; Zamboni Mauro - Manuale di Gerontologia e Geriatria - Ed. Piccin, Nuova Libraria

Senin Umberto; Cherubini Antonio; Mecocci Patrizia - Paziente Anziano Paziente Geriatrico Medicina della Compessità Fondamenti di Gerontologia e Geriatria - Ed. EdiSES

Raffaele Antonelli Incalzi; Matteo Cesari; Dario Leosco; Claudio Pedone; Andrea Ungar; Stefano Volpato - Manuale di geriatria

Teaching methods

Public frontal lessons with Powerpoint presentations that will be made available to students at the end of class.

Assessment methods

At the end of the Course, an exam will verify the level of knowledge of the arguments of the Course content. The exam consist in an oral individual test that comprises an evaluation as a grade of out of 30. The final grade of the Course is defined by the average of the votes reported in two questions about specific topics relevant to the educational objectives of the Course. The student will be asked to answer to a third question (and the grade reported will be part of the final evaluation) if it will be necessary to verify the complete achievement of the educational objective of the Course. A negative evaluation does not imply the allocation of a grade on mark, but merely an evaluation reported on the record (either withdrawn or failed): this evaluation is not included in the curriculum and does not affect the average of the final grade. To state the oral test it is necessary to register via Internet on Almaesami within the established time. The sessions of exams will be unfolded at the end of the Course of lectures, from the month of January, the year after. The session of exam on June will be planed as soon as possible. No session of exams will be planned on March and May because is not allowed by the academic rules. The registration of the result of the oral test will be done on Almaesami no later than 7 days following the date of the exam. For the registration of the result of the test on Almaesami it is not necessary, for the student, to be present. For the students of the previous academic years still in possession of the paper booklet, the registration of the final vote on the booklet will be done at the end of the oral test. Remind to the students that to state the oral test it is necessary to show up with the University Card and a valid Document of Identification. For any necessity/questions related to the registration of the result of the test on Almaesami please write an e-mail to: giampaolo.bianchi@unibo.it.

To comply with the italian rule for the privacy the student must use for the e-mail comunication only the institutional mailbox (name.surname@studio.unibo.it or other university mailbox).

Teaching tools

Oral lectures with slides.

Language of teaching: italian.

Office hours

See the website of Paola Forti

SDGs

Zero hunger Good health and well-being

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.