Wellness prevention in the elderly has similar goals as prevention in nonelderly adults, which is to improve lifestyles and habits to prevent disease (primary prevention) or the progression of disease (secondary prevention). Pharmacists who interact with the community elderly have a great opportunity of helping to keep our elderly healthy and preventing lifelong chronic problems that can contribute to a decrease in function of activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). This article focuses on the key prevention interventions that a pharmacist can target in helping to promote health maintenance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
1. Pelletier KR. Longevity: what can centenarians teach us? In: Dychtwald K, ed. Wellness and Health Promotion for the Elderly. Rockville, Md: Aspen ; 1986:201-217.
2.
2. Scheittel SM, Fleming KC, Chutka DS, Evans JM. Geriatric health maintenance . Mayo Clin Proc. 1996;71: 289-302 .
3.
3. Clairfield AM. Teaching public health related to the elderly . Pub Health Rev. 2002;30(1-4): 271-276 .
4.
4. Nolan J. Improving the health of older people: what do we do? Br J Nurs. 2001;10(8): 524-528 .
5.
5. Watts D, Damasco-Ty E, Ryan F, Goodman B. Geriatricians health survey 2000 . JAGS. 2001;49(11): 1535-1538 .
6.
6. Cox JL. Smoking cessation in the elderly patient . Clin Chest Med. 1993;14: 423-428 .
7.
7. American Medical Association. Alcoholism in the Elderly: Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention. Guidelines for Primary Care Physicians. Chicago, Ill.: AMA Council on Scientific Affairs, Department of Geriatric Health ; 1995.
8.
8. Mulrow C, Lau J, Cornell J, Brand M. Pharmacotherapy for hypertension in the elderly (Cochrane Methodology Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 4. Chichester, UK:John Wiley ; 2003.
9.
9. Grundy SM, Cleeman JI, Rifkind BM, Kuller LH. Cholesterol lowering in the elderly population . Arch Intern Med. 1999;159: 1670-1678 .
10.
10. Owens N, Fretwell MD, Willey C, Murphy SS. Distinguishing between fit and frail elderly, and optimizing pharmacotherapy . Drugs Aging. 1994;4(1): 47-55 .
11.
11. Owens NJ, Silliman RA, Fretwell MD. The relationship between comprehensive functional assessment and optimal pharmacotherapy in the older patient . DICP. 1989;23(11): 847-853 .
12.
12. Solomon DH, Finkelstein JS, Katz JN, Mogun H, Avorn J. Underuse of osteoporosis medications in elderly patients with fractures . Am J Med. 2003;115: 398-400 .
