When my elderly parents fell ill in the early 1980s—my father suffering the second of two debilitating strokes, and my mother, from severe heart disease—I decided to have them come live with me so I could look after them. It was gratifying and, given their complex health problems, challenging. Because I was working in the field of geriatrics—the branch of healthcare that focuses on the care of older people—I knew that older adults have unique care needs. So I learned as much as I could about my parents’ conditions and, with the help of a wonderful interdisciplinary healthcare team, was able to ensure they got the care they needed.
As we grow older, we tend to have more complex health problems. We’re more likely to have multiple illnesses. Our symptoms may differ from those of younger people. We may respond differently to medications. We may need to take several medications and certain drugs, taken together, may cause side effects or interact in harmful ways.
Because older adults’ health issues are unique, we at the American Geriatrics Society Foundation for Health in Aging are committed to helping older people and their caregivers get the information they need about health and health issues in later life, and how to manage them. That’s why we developed this new website—HealthinAging.org. All of the content on Health in Aging is reviewed by healthcare professionals who are members of the American Geriatrics Society and experts in caring for older people.