Services
Geriatrics
Our role
Geriatrics is concerned with the care of persons aged 75 and over who are in fragile health due to the accumulation of chronic or acute diseases, (risk of) falling, malnutrition, cognitive disorder, etc.
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This holistic approach means that geriatrics is an interdisciplinary medical discipline. Geriatricians work in teams, with nurses, auxiliary nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, speech therapists, (neuro)psychologists, social workers and also with other specialist doctors
Professor Sandra De Breucker
Head of the Geriatric Department at the Erasmus Hospital
Our specialities
The Erasmus Hospital Geriatric Department is structured around 5 areas of care as defined by the Royal Decree on the Care Programme for Geriatric Patients: The Geriatric Hospitalisation Unit with 50 beds at the Erasmus Hospital and 84 beds at the Geriatric Rehabilitation Centre (CRG) in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. Geriatric consultations given by geriatricians who each have a subspeciality: orthogeriatrics, cardiogeriatrics, oncogeriatrics, psychogeriatrics, geriatric emergencies, sarcopenia and (mal)nutrition (see Focus). The Geriatric Day Hospital which patients attend as outpatients during one or two days for a diagnosis or to administer certain treatment (transfusion, intravenous iron, treatment of osteoporosis, etc.) at the request of the GP or specialist doctor. Internal geriatric liaising that involves a multidisciplinary mobile team assessing geriatric patients hospitalised in other hospital departments. Persons identified as fragile benefit from a specific care pathway (assessment, multidisciplinary assessment, opinion and follow up). External geriatric liaising that involves cooperation with partners outside the hospital, namely the GP, rest and care home, rehabilitation centres and/or home care providers so as to ensure effective continuity of geriatric care.
Our team
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Our medical specialists
Focus
Each geriatric subspeciality – orthogeriatrics, cardiogeriatrics, oncogeriatrics, psychogeriatrics, geriatric emergencies and (mal)nutrition – is the subject of a specific care pathway. Example: A 75-year-old patient with a fragile profile and with cancer. The oncologist refers the patient to the specialist oncogeriatrics doctor and his or her team. They assess the patient and draw up recommendations at the nutritional, functional and therapeutic level so that the patient is best placed to be able to tolerate the cancer treatment.
Research
The Erasmus Hospital Geriatric Department participates in a number of clinical studies.
Example: Evaluation of the effectiveness of fall sensors fitted in hospitalisation rooms, evaluation of the characteristics and needs of close helpers, influence of nurses training on managing pain in elderly patients admitted for hip fracture, etc.
Publications
Analysis of inflammatory markers and hormones in old cancer patients: a descriptive study.
Authors : Sandra De Breucker, Sylvie Luce, Rose Njemini, Ivan Bautmans, Lore Decoster, Tony Mets, Thierry PepersackJournal : Exp Gerontol. 2020 ;130:110787. doi : 10.1016/j.exger.2019.110787.
Profile and needs of primary informal caregivers of older patients in Belgian geriatric day hospitals: a multicentric crosssectional study.
Authors : Eyaloba C, De Brauwer I, Cès S, Benoit F, Gillain S, Pesch L, Rouvière H, De Breucker S.Journal : BMC Geriatr. 2021 May 17;21(1):315. doi: 10.1186/s12877-021-02255-1.
Intrinsic capacity assessment by a mobile geriatric team during the covid-19pandemic.
Authors : Angioni D, Nicolay C, Vandergheynst F, Bare R, Cesari M, De Breucker S.Journal : Front Med (Lausanne). 2021 May 25;8:664681. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.664681.
Nutritional rehabilitation after acute illness among older patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Authors : Szklarzewska S, Mottale R, Engelman E, De Breucker S, Preiser JC.Journal : Clinical Nutrition 2023 ; 42(3) : 309-336. Doi :10.1016/j.clnu.2023.01.013.
