The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Sep 2020
Combating Heightened Social Isolation of Nursing Home Elders: The Telephone Outreach in the COVID-19 Outbreak Program.
Social isolation and loneliness-common concerns in older adults-are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To address social isolation in nursing home residents, the Yale School of Medicine Geriatrics Student Interest Group initiated a Telephone Outreach in the COVID-19 Outbreak (TOCO) Program that implements weekly phone calls with student volunteers. ⋯ The TOCO program achieved initial success and promotes the social wellbeing of nursing home residents. We hope to continue this program beyond the COVID-19 pandemic in order to address this persistent need in a notably vulnerable patient population.
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Sep 2020
EditorialTelehealth in Psychiatry of Old Age: Ordinary Care in Extraordinary Times in Rural North-West Ireland.
The COVID-19 pandemic has required a rapid evolution of services to maintain routine care in Ireland. Services which had been previously slow to adapt technology in their practices are suddenly integrating various telehealth measures to continue routine practice where possible. In this article, we discuss the challenges we face in rapidly implementing telehealth in a rural Psychiatry of Old Age service in the North-West of Ireland.
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Sep 2020
The COVID-19 AAGP Online Trainee Curriculum: Development and Method of Initial Evaluation.
One effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is the disruption of in-person clinical experiences within geriatric psychiatry residency education. Online resources for trainees are needed to fill resultant gaps. ⋯ The Curriculum has the potential to supplement psychiatry residency education during the pandemic and potentially raise the profile of AAGP, with the goal of inspiring interest within geriatric psychiatry. Results of the initial self-report evaluation should be available in 1 year.