Guiding Principles for the Care of Multimorbid Older Adults

Multimorbid older adults are vulnerable to polypharmacy and poor outcomes, and there are no overall guidelines to help clinicians manage their care. When patients have many providers of various specialties, there is a greater risk of lack of coordination or priorities of care among the health care team. This session explores how providers need to look at the evidence and prioritize according to patient and family preferences, using a logical decision-making approach in the treatment of their patients as individuals.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss why disease specific clinical guidelines may not be appropriate for multimorbid older adults.
• Explore the importance of exploring and knowing patient preferences.
• Review the existing evidence that clinical guidelines are based on.
• Describe planning in the context of prognosis.
• Outline the implications of treatment complexity and feasibility.
• Identify clinical management strategies to optimize therapy and care plans.