Counseling in special populations: the elderly patient

This seventh installment in the series on value-added services provides pharmacists with a systematic approach to identifying and meeting the special counseling-related needs of the ambulatory elderly patient. The article describes the physical, mental, and social changes that characteristically accompany the aging process and that create special problems for pharmacists and their elderly patients during the delivery of pharmaceutical care. It also describes a systematic approach that pharmacists can use to evaluate whether their elderly patients need special counseling. Finally, it illustrates how the principles that are discussed can be applied in the practice setting.