Primary Care

It is essential that all primary care physicians who care for older adults need to be competent in the geriatrics approach to care. Nevertheless, primary care is a concept in and of itself. Individual patients expect to have a primary care clinician. Geriatric Medicine is its own discipline. This chapter is about how the geriatrics approach to care can be integrated into primary care. We review the geriatrics approach to care and to consider how its elements can be addressed in order to effectively bring geriatric medicine into primary care. We also review various primary care models that have been used to integrate geriatrics into care delivery. Whether you consider yourself a geriatrician, a primary care physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or any other healthcare professional practicing in a primary care setting, this chapter is dedicated to you.