HomeThe Senior-Friendly ED

The Senior-Friendly ED

The senior friendly ED isn’t a place – rather, it’s a group of policies, protocols, and procedures that are implemented by an interdisciplinary team working together for senior-friendly care. In this section, you’ll find information relating to small steps that can make a big impact in the ED. In the resources section, look for downloads of policies, screening tools, and QI tools for use in your ED.

  • In This Section
  • The interRAI ED Assessment System

    Numerous studies have shown that emergency departments (EDs) are less effective in dealing with the complex needs of vulnerable older people. This is due, at least in part, to the failure to provide ...Read More

    Geriatric Emergency Medicine Guidelines: rationale

    Geriatric Emergency Medicine Guidelines After two years of consensus-based work, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), the American ...Read More

    Profile of a Physiotherapist

    Maegan Bell, a trained physiotherapist, joined Mount Sinai Hospital team in 2012. The Acute Care for Elderly strategies was already implemented, which also involved the project of the Geriatric Emerg...Read More

    Identifying Elder Abuse Victims – An Important Component of a Senior-Friendly ED

    The ED – a Place to Identify Abuse Older adults are commonly victims of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, with 5-10% of community-dwelling seniors experiencing elder mistreatment each yea...Read More

    Design and Accessibility Best Practices for a Senior-Friendly ED

    Accessibility Recommendations The following recommendations are based on accessibility requirements taken from the following sources: Belinda Parke and Kathleen Friesen, Code Plus: Physical Design Co...Read More

    Best Possible Medication History (BPMH) Guide

    Here is an outline for a script that any health care provider can use in the ED to ensure an accurate medication history — before discharge or before admission: Introduction – Introduce self and prof...Read More

    Ten Practical Tips for a Best Possible Medication History

    Be proactive. Gather as much information as possible prior to seeing the patient. Include primary medication histories, provincial database information, and medications vials/ lists. Prompt questions...Read More

    Tips and Tools for Medication Management in Smaller EDs

    Patient engagement Encourage and offer tools to patients and caregivers to help them manage their medications. Knowledge is the best medicine is a program that helps people take control of their heal...Read More

    A Senior-Friendly ED Checklist

    A. Staffing A physician champion or medical director with some focussed education specifically relevant to the provision of emergency care of older people should be identified by administration. An i...Read More

    A Pharmacist’s Role in the Senior-friendly ED

    Why is medication reconciliation in older adults important? As people age, many develop a progressively complex mix of health conditions that require a growing number of medications to prevent the de...Read More

    A Rationale for a “Hold Overnight” Policy for Frail Older Patients

    The Rationale Older patients often have non-specific presentations that raise complex medical and psychosocial questions relating to etiology and safe disposition. Falls and changes in behavior, such...Read More

    Profile of a GEM Nurse

    Nana Asomaning has been working at Mount Sinai emergency department for the last 7 years. She was the second GEM nurse at in the Sinai ED. She is an important part of the evolution of Mount Sinai Sen...Read More