Neurogeriatrics—a vision for improved care and research for geriatric patients with predominating neurological disabilities
Andréas H. Jacobs, Kirsten Emmert, Ralf Baron, Thorsten Bartsch, Jürgen M. Bauer, Clemens Becker, Daniela Berg, Philipp Bergmann, Kai Boetzel, Cornelius Bollheimer, Günther Deuschl, Marija Djukic, Michael Drey, Herbert F. Durwen, Georg Ebersbach, Morad Elshehabi, Johanna Geritz, Christoph Gisinger, Thomas Guennewig, Bjoern Hauptmann, Hans-Juergen Heppner, Markus A. Hobert, Werner Hofmann, Philipp Huellemann, Klaus Jahn, Jochen Klucken, Roland Kurth, Reinhard Lindner, Paul Lingor, Albert Lukas, Sara Maetzold, Thomas Mokrusch, Brit Mollenhauer, Roland Nau, Annika Plate, Maria Cristina Polidori, Tino Prell, Peter D. Schellinger, Dominik Spira, Ulrich Stephani, Simone Studt, Claudia Trenkwalder, Heinz L. Unger, Péter Urbán, Christine A. F. Von Arnim, Tobias Warnecke, Michael Weiß, Andreas Wiedemann, Rainer Wirth, Karsten Witt, Richard Dodel, Walter Maetzler
Abstract
Geriatric medicine is a rapidly evolving field that addresses diagnostic, therapeutic and care aspects of older adults. Some disabilities and disorders affecting cognition (e.g. dementia), motor function (e.g. stroke, Parkinson's disease, neuropathies), mood (e.g. depression), behavior (e.g. delirium) and chronic pain disorders are particularly frequent in old subjects. As knowledge about these age-associated conditions and disabilities is steadily increasing, the integral implementation of neurogeriatric knowledge in geriatric medicine and specific neurogeriatric research is essential to develop the field. This article discusses how neurological know-how could be integrated in academic geriatric medicine to improve care of neurogeriatric patients, to foster neurogeriatric research and training concepts and to provide innovative care concepts for geriatric patients with predominant neurological conditions and disabilities.