Clinical Toolbox for Geriatric Care

Resources include:
Mental Status Tests
• Clock Drawing Test /Mini-Cog Assessment
• Confusion Assessment Method(CAM)
• Digit Span Test
• Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS) - Short Form
• Interventions To Prevent Delirium
• Restraint Alternative Menu
• Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire

Functional Assessment Tests:

• Instrumental Activities of Daily Living(IADLs)
• Physical Self-Maintenance Scale/Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
• The Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ)

Mobility Assessment:
• Get Up and Go Test
• Performance Oriented Mobility Assessment

As well as discharge checklists, guidelines, pain assessment and nutrition.


The Clinical Toolbox for Geriatric Care was developed by the SHM Geriatric Task Force, a multidisciplinary group of health care providers specializing in care of the elderly and education of Hospitalists, and was supported in part by the John A Hartford Foundation through a subcontract with the American Geriatrics Society. The goal of the project was to provide Hospitalists with a compendium of resources or “toolbox” to facilitate and improve inpatient care of the elderly.

Specifically, the project aimed to develop an easy to access resource containing the best assessment tools and, for each one, provide information allowing Hospitalists to quickly locate the best tool for any given clinical situation.

Screening Tools and Rating Scales for Mental Health

The Massachusetts General Hospital's School Psychiatry Program provides resources for evaluating mental health in young people.

One resource is a Table of Screening Tools & Rating Scales, with some tools available free online.

• Topics include ADHD, OCD, Anxiety, Autism, Disruptive Behavior, Suicide Risk, Bipolar Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Delay.

• The screening tools and rating scales in the table below can be used to help measure a young person’s mental health symptoms, and/or measure progress after interventions are put in place at school or at home.

• For each screening tool or rating scale, the table indicates: the age range for the instrument, who completes the instrument, the number of items in the instrument and how long it takes to complete, and whether free access is available on line.

Come Check out the 5th Annual Basket Raffle 2/17 and 2/18 2010

The Montgomery Hospital Auxiliary Basket Raffle starts tomorrow after 2 snow delays! Come on over to the Bridge and check out the 38 wonderful baskets. I am excited to be part of this with my mosaic business Nutmeg Designs, and have donated a Hope mosaic sign that I made from stained glass, and Italian glass tile on Pennsylvania slate.

Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5 and payroll deduction is also available; bring your badge to verify employment.

Wednesday February 17th, 7am-7pm
Thursday Februrary 18th, 7am-2pm

This fundraising event benefits our cardiac and emergency services this year.

eMedicine Medical Reference from WebMD

I've had some people asking for recommendations for a medical reference product that can be accessed anywhere. One option is eMedicine from WebMD. eMedicine touts its 8,000 professional contributors, and 6000 topics.

New eMedicine articles undergo several levels of physician peer review plus an additional review by a PharmD prior to publication. Sources for subsequent revisions of articles include the author, a physician or PharmD member of the editorial board, user-driven feedback, and systematically reviewed medical literature.

eMedicine has been around for over 10 years and in 2006 was bought by WebMD, a provider of consumer health information. WebMD is like reading a mainstream health magazine, with seamlessly integrated ads, and it's advertised on national television, so your patients have probably looked at it.

eMedicine is aimed at physicians, and is paired with Medscape, a site with medical news, selected full-text journal articles, and cme, and a company also purchased by WebMD.

Registration may be required to access all features, but there is much material available free of charge, though with integrated advertising.

It's not too late to get vaccinated for H1N1!

Occupational Health still has H1N1 vaccine available for:

• Staff

• Patients WITH A DOCTORS ORDER.

Presidential Proclamation for National Influenza Vaccination Week

Rational Clinical Examination Series from JAMA

The Society of General Internal Medicine has compiled the Rational Clinical Exam Series from JAMA, focusing on signs and symptoms to answer questions such as:

Does this patient have dementia?

Holsinger T, Deveau J, Boustani M, Williams JW.
JAMA 2007;297:2391-404. PMID: 17551132

PubMed: Abstract - Related articles

Fulltext options: JAMA: html - pdf

Does this dyspneic patient in the emergency department have congestive heart failure?

Wang CS, FitzGerald JM, Schulzer M, Mak E, Ayas NT.
JAMA 2005;294:1944-56. PMID: 16234501

PubMed: Abstract - Related articles

Fulltext options: JAMA: html - pdf

Does this patient with headache have a migraine or need neuroimaging?

Detsky ME, McDonald DR, Baerlocher MO, Tomlinson GA, McCrory DC, Booth CM.
JAMA 2006;296:1274-83. PMID: 16968852

PubMed: Abstract - Related articles

Fulltext options: JAMA: html - pdf

JNC-7: Guidelines for the Treatment of High Blood Pressure

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute(NHLBI) publishes clinical guidelines for the treatment of hypertension. The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure, otherwise known as JNC-7, was published in 2003 and is currently in revision for JNC-8 due out in March 2010 for comment and in final form in summer of 2010.

A JNC-7 Express Guide has been written for primary care.

A JNC-7 Pocket Reference Card contains all the main points in a concise 2 pages.

JNC-7 PDA Application