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| NEWS |
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| Year : 2023 | Volume
: 19
| Issue : 1 | Page : 81-83 |
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Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) – workshop by the IAG in APICON 2023
| Date of Web Publication | 17-Mar-2023 |
Correspondence Address:
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/0974-3405.371911
How to cite this article:
. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) – workshop by the IAG in APICON 2023. J Indian Acad Geriatr 2023;19:81-3 |
In mid-November 2022, a group of physicians were contacted by Dr Ashish Goel, President of the Indian Academy of Geriatrics (IAG), to conduct a “Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment” workshop at the APICON 2023 to be held in late January 2023 in Ahmedabad. The annual meeting of the Association of Physicians of India (APICON) is the biggest scientific conclave for Indian physicians.
Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is a collaborative, multidimensional framework and process of assessment to assess older people. The primary goal of CGA is to identify the older person's needs and problems. This assessment thoroughly evaluates an older person's functional and cognitive abilities, social support, financial status, environmental factors, and physical and mental health. Assessment results are coupled with sustained, individually tailored interventions.
A CGA workshop was planned to disseminate the core concepts of the CGA to general physicians who deal with a large proportion of older adults in the community. A team of geriatricians consisting of Drs Surekha V, Thangam D, Steve Manjaly, Bijin Oliver John, NN Prem, SS Charkrabarty and G Venugopalan, members of the Indian Academy of Geriatrics, was tasked to conduct the workshop. Enthusiastic team members hit the ground running with preparations and brainstorming for the next few days on the zoom platform. They drew the timelines and each one's responsibilities were charted out. Each came up with different suggestions, all of which were considered when the final program was drawn up. The administrative aspects of the workshop were dealt with by the Vice President and Secretary of the IAG – Dr Meenakshi Sharda and Dr D Thangam, respectively. Flyers were sent out, and we waited to see who would sign up for this, as this was the first-ever initiative of the IAG in an APICON.
There were about twenty participants who attended this workshop. They included a mix of practising physicians, administrators and postgraduates - who understood a grey tsunami on the horizon and realised they were unprepared for it. The workshop discussed real-life case scenarios, each highlighting a geriatric giant – falls, cognitive impairment, polypharmacy and social geriatrics. The participants were divided into four groups to ensure each one's opinions were heard and considered. Each group had to present a problem list and the need for a CAG in the scenario.
The workshop was kickstarted with a pre-test conducted on an online platform – Testmoz. Following this, there was a general introduction to Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment so that the participants became familiar with geriatric jargon and the components of the CGA. The scenarios had a taste of the old patient with multiple comorbidities, but each scenario highlighted a specific syndrome, as mentioned above. At the end of each discussion by the participants, one of the geriatricians highlighted the main learning points in that particular scenario. There was a final wrap-up scenario, which reiterated the salient points. The workshop ended with a post-test. The participants were each given a booklet, which included most of the assessment scales alluded to in the presentations. The day's proceedings ended with the words – “Your journey has just begun”.
The participants enjoyed the scenarios and the conduct of the workshop. They said this was an “eye-opener” offered constructive suggestions to streamline further and address issues they encounter at the grass root level.
Conducting the first-ever workshop at the APICON was an honour. For us, this was a small beginning. We hope this will have a ripple effect, and many more will realise that caring for the older person requires not only science but skill and a lot of empathy and time. Spending all these will earn rich dividends in the long run. The IAG would like to continue to conduct themed workshops at the local and national levels to disseminate knowledge about caring for older people.
We thank the organisers, specifically Drs Arvind Mathur, Ashish Goel and Meenakshi Sharda, who made this happen.
Workshop Team Members
Drs Surekha V, Thangam D, Steve Manjaly, Bijin Oliver John, NN Prem, SS Charkrabarty and Venugopalan.
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