Not What it Seems
A progressive decline in memory, thinking, and the ability to perform daily activities.
WHAT IS
dementia?
Because many in this group lived through decades when openly expressing their identity was unsafe, they may hide important parts of their lives in care settings, leading to unique barriers in assessment and support.
Who are
LGBTQ2S+ older adults?
It’s the situation in which an individual takes multiple medications at the same time, increasing the risk of adverse effects and interactions.
WHAT IS
Polypharmacy?
This type of intelligence relies on accumulated knowledge and experience, and tends to remain stable or even improve with age.
WHAT IS
Crystallized intelligence?
This type of care can be offered at any stage of a serious illness and focuses on relief of symptoms, communication, and quality of life—whether or not the patient is expected to recover.
What is
palliative care?
This pattern describes how some mental abilities, like processing speed and multitasking, decline with age while vocabulary, general knowledge, and life experience remain largely intact.
What is
the classic aging pattern?
This major demographic shift has been driven by a large generation moving into older age and by people living longer than ever before.
What are the aging of the baby boom generation and increased longevity?
Unlike acute pain, this type of pain lasts longer than expected healing time and often affects mood, sleep, and daily functioning.
persistent pain?
A method where patients explain instructions back to the nurse to confirm understanding.
WHAT IS
Teach Back Method?
This type of care is chosen when a person is expected to die soon and the goal is comfort, not cure.
What is
hospice care?
This acute condition is the most common cause of sudden confusion in older adults with infections such as UTIs.
WHAT IS
Delirium?
These unequal differences in outcomes for older adults often stem from lifelong social and economic disadvantages, limited access to care, and systemic biases that compound with age.
What are
health disparities?
Due to age-related changes in drug metabolism and excretion, older adults may experience this effect even after a medication is no longer being taken.
WHAT IS
an adverse reaction continuing after the medication has been discontinued?
This is the most critical element of the teach-back method, because it shows true understanding rather than memorization.
WHAT IS
having the patient explain the information in their own words?
In some families, this generational “role reversal” occurs when the individuals who once provided care long ago unexpectedly find themselves doing it again—only this time, for a skipped generation.
WHAT IS
grandparents becoming the primary caregivers of their grandchildren?
A common but often under-recognized condition marked by ongoing low mood and loss of interest in older adults.
WHAT IS
Depression?
This phrase captures the rapid expansion of the aging population due to longer life expectancy and declining birth rates.
WHAT IS
Gerontological explosion?
In older adults, this form of pain can be severe despite leaving no bruises, fractures, or vital-sign changes—and is often rooted in losses that can’t be seen on an assessment form.
What is
psychological pain?
To support varying levels of health literacy in older adults, nurses should use this type of language when teaching.
WHAT IS
Plain language?
This condition may occur when an older adult moves to a new environment and begins showing anxiety, confusion, sleep problems, or a noticeable decline in daily functioning.
WHAT IS
Relocation stress syndrome?
In this condition, the earliest changes hide in plain sight: subtle losses in executive function and judgment that accumulate slowly enough to be rationalized by those around the person.
What is
Dementia?
Older adults with long-term conditions often cope better when they understand this.
What is
recognizing that chronic illness is lifelong and shaped by uncertainty?
Among the many contributors to falls, this factor is especially dangerous because it can impair balance, alter alertness, and interact in unpredictable ways—often without the patient realizing it.
What is
taking medications that increase dizziness or sedation?
These principles describe how older adults learn most effectively.
WHAT IS
Geragogy?
This approach prevents age-based assumptions in care by focusing on the older person’s personal history, values, and preferences rather than stereotypes about aging.
What is
providing individualized, person-centered care?