Journal of American Geriatrics Society

Harris, Melodee

doi: 10.1111/jgs.15342pmid: 29659004

Sturdevant, Diana

doi: 10.1111/jgs.15344pmid: 29659000

Massimo, Lauren; Kales, Helen C.; Kolanowski, Ann

doi: 10.1111/jgs.15343pmid: 29659001

Apathy is one of the most common and pervasive of the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSDs). Apathy has profound consequences for morbidity, mortality, and caregiver burden. Treatment of apathy has been hindered because of poor understanding of the mechanisms underlying this heterogeneous syndrome. Research has demonstrated that apathy is associated with disruption of the frontal‐striatal system in individuals with neurodegenerative disease. As with other BPSDs, these neural mechanisms alone do not completely account for the syndrome; individual, caregiver, and environmental factors also contribute to apathy. In this article, we modify a current conceptual model of the factors contributing to BPSDs to examine determinants of apathy. This integrative model provides a more complete and theoretically informed understanding of apathy, allowing for greater insight into potential targets for research, intervention, and care. We end by proposing an agenda for moving the science of BPSDs in general, and apathy in particular, forward.

doi: 10.1111/jgs.15406pmid: N/A

doi: 10.1111/jgs.15570pmid: N/A

Gilmore‐Bykovskyi, Andrea

doi: 10.1111/jgs.15325pmid: 29659002

doi: 10.1111/jgs.15550pmid: 30152008

Farrell, Timothy W.; Luptak, Marilyn K.; Supiano, Katherine P.; Pacala, James T.; Lisser, Rosalind

doi: 10.1111/jgs.15309pmid: 29659009

Interprofessional education (IPE) is essential to develop the healthcare workforce of the future. Geriatrics healthcare professionals have long championed innovations in IPE and patient care, but there is increased urgency to address challenges in aging, dementia, and geriatric mental health in America. In 2010, the Partnership for Health in Aging multidisciplinary competencies and a related position statement in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society addressed interdisciplinary team (IDT) training in geriatrics. The position statement reported that training in higher education, academic, and continuing education settings has not been sufficiently responsive to workforce needs. In recent years, health professions educators and health systems leaders have increasingly recognized that IPE should be integrally linked with, and performed within, emerging models of team‐based, value‐driven health care. In this way, IPE will align with learning healthcare systems' pursuit of the Quadruple Aim: improving patient experience, provider experience, and the health of populations, and reducing per capita health care costs. Backed by decades of developing effective team care models and the skill set needed to care for older adults with complex needs, geriatrics healthcare providers from multiple disciplines are uniquely positioned to lead learning healthcare systems in a new effort to develop, implement, and sustain IPE and practice models congruent with these Aims. We provide recommendations for health professions educators, healthcare systems leaders, and policymakers to realize the potential of IPE and interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) to improve the health of all Americans in aging, dementia, and mental health.

doi: 10.1111/jgs.15375pmid: N/A

doi: 10.1111/jgs.15376pmid: 29672832