Older Adults and Ulcers

In Brief PURPOSE: To provide the wound care practitioner with information about how chronic wound healing differs in the older adult population. TARGET AUDIENCE: This continuing education activity is intended for physicians and nurses with an interest in skin and wound care. OBJECTIVES: After participating in this educational activity, the participant should be better able to: Compare chronic wound healing processes and outcomes in older adults with those in younger persons. Explain the relationships between wound healing, comorbidities, and adverse drug events. Apply known relationships among wound healing, comorbid medical conditions, and functional decline to care of the older adult. In this continuing education activity, the author discusses some of the major differences in wound healing in the older adult population and also explores the relationship between wound healing and major geriatric syndromes including the use of medications, falls, functional decline, mood disorders, and the relationship to chronic medical conditions.