Lunch & Learn - Lifestyle Medicine for Older Adults

Older adults are the fasted-growing age group in the world. Along with aging, many people develop chronic diseases and disabilities and are top consumer of healthcare. There are multiple opportunities to improve health and health outcomes for older adults through lifestyle interventions. Within the older populations, geriatric syndromes are defined as health conditions that are multifactorial in nature, involve more than one system of the body, and require a comprehensive approach to management. Examples of geriatric syndromes include falls, cognitive impairment, incontinence, and depression. In the last five decades, many studies have demonstrated how health lifestyle interventions can improve clinical outcomes in older adults. Lifestyle modifications are recognized as the first-line treatment approach for all geriatric syndromes. An older adult can be anywhere along the spectrum of health, ranging from minimal or no medical problems to multiple advanced medical problems.
Objective 1: Discuss how a comprehensive geriatrics and lifestyle medicine assessment can help detect older adults' needs.
Objective 2: Explore key studies highlighting healthy lifestyle-related outcomes for older adults.
Objective 3: Share strategies to incorporate lifestyle medicine tools into the clinical care for older adults and the treatment of multiple types of geriatric syndromes.
Speaker:
Kelly Freeman - is the Director of Academic Advancement at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Previous roles include Lieutenant in the United States Navy Nurse Corps, case manager, wound consultant, legal nurse consultant, adult/geriatric primary care NP, and university faculty. She attended the University of Nebraska as an undergraduate and received a Master's degree as a primary care geriatric nurse practitioner at Indiana University. She holds two post-graduate certificates from Indiana University in public health and nursing education and is a Ph.D. candidate in Health Policy & Management. She has co-authored four book chapters and has co-written research papers on lifestyle medicine reimbursement, shared medical appointments, provider burnout. well-being, and cost savings. Kelly is a co-founder and the current president of the Indiana Lifestyle Medicine Network. She is a trained facilitator for the Diabetes Prevention Program and the Comprehensive Health Improvement Program.