Gero+-+Informatics

=**__Gero - Informatics__**=

Description:
Gero-Informatics is the specialization of health informatics that pertains to geriatrics. Geriatrics is a field of medicine that specializes in the care of older patients. The field of Gero-Informatics is the development, application, and study of HIT for the elderly. This includes but is not limited to EMRs and EHRs. The idea of Gero-Informatics is to help older patients recieve the proper care by making use of the technology available today from help over the internet and through email to modifying things already available such as EMRs or EHRs to include fields more specific to older patients such as preferences for care, caregivers information, mental health, and a living will.

Whereas gerontechnology refers to "matching technological environments to health, housing, mobility, communication, leisure and work of older people", //gero-informatics// is more of a concern with the role of //information// , //information systems //, and //information technology // in geriatric medicine and geriatrics care. It includes some aspects of //electronic health records //, //personal health records //, and //telehealth//. //Gero-informatics // is basically connected with HIT, but focuses on areas of informatics that are specific to geriatrics. This is necessary, because the implementation of clinical informatics at many medical institutions have often excluded, or incorrectly addressed, information about their elderly patients. For example, electronic health records infrequently have comprehensive ways to represent the following kinds of data.  I.   __[|Advance directives] __ - A // living will //, also called // will to live //, is one type of **//advance health directive//**, or **//advance health care directive//**. It is often accompanied by a specific type of //power of attorney //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> or //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">health care proxy //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">. These are //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">legal instruments //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> that are usually <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">witnessed <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> or <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">notarized <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"> ·  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">A **living will** usually covers specific directives as to the course of treatment that is to be taken by caregivers, or, in some cases forbidding treatment and sometimes also <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">food and water <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">, should the principal be unable to give <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">informed consent <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> ("individual health car e instruction") due to incapacity. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"> ·  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">A **power of attorney for health care** appoints an individual (a proxy) to direct health care decisions should the principal be unable to do so. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">As the name suggests, the term "will to live", as opposed to the other terms, tends to emphasize the wish to live as long as possible rather than refusing treatment in the case of serious conditions. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">In the United States, however, most states recognize //living wills// or the designation of a //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">health care proxy //<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">. However, a "report card" which is issued by the “ <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">Robert Wood Johnson Foundation <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">” in 2002 concluded that only seven out of the fifty states deserved an "A" for meeting the standards of the model [|Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill Act]. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial"> II. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Physical functional status <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial"> III. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Cognitive status <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial"> IV. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Patients' preferences for care <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial"> V.   <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Key information about [|caregivers] <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">In addition, better <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">clinical decision support <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> is nee ded to address routine <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">preventive <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> and medical care of older adults. Applications: Remote Monitoring TeleHealth

http://iucar.iu.edu/gocar/ http://www.feebly.org/Advance_directives/encyclopedia.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Rights_of_the_Terminally_Ill_Act <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">[|http://www.strengthforcaring.com/manual/about-you-the-caregiver-role/caregiving-skills/</span]> EMR EHR Geriatrics Health Informatics HIT Caregiving
 * Web Resources:**
 * http://www.americangeriatrics.org/**
 * Related Terminology:**

http://geriatrics.indiana.edu/geroinformatics/flyer/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gero-Informatics
 * Citations/References:**


 * Graphics:**