MaineHealth Geriatric Care provides expert care for older adults using a multidisciplinary team approach. Our close partnership with MaineHealth Maine Medical Center ensures coordinated and collaborative care.
Compassionate Care for Older Adults
Our geriatric medicine specialists focus on age-related issues that can impact daily life for older adults. We provide clinical services as well as information and tools to optimize health and day-to-day functioning.
More about our services
Our interdisciplinary geriatric assessment team includes a geriatrician, occupational therapist, physical therapist and social worker. The team focuses on elder health and age-related issues that can impact functional independence and quality of life for seniors. All team members are either board certified or licensed and have broad experience in geriatric medicine.
Once individual needs are identified, other members of the team may be asked to contribute to the plan of care. Our services are consultative and are not meant to replace regular medical care. In fact, we work closely with each patient's primary care physician and family members to coordinate a plan that addresses day to day challenges and is easily incorporated into ongoing medical treatment.
Our Memory Disorders Program is designed to assess memory and other problems identified with thinking. Staffed by a Geriatrician, a Geriatric Psychiatrist, a Clinical Nurse Specialist, an Occupational Therapist, and a Social Worker, there is also access to Neurology and Neuropsychology specialists if needed. Depending on an individual's cognitive symptoms and history, all or some of the team will meet with the patient and caregivers to provide assessment and care.
During the assessment, the team looks at multiple factors that can influence a person's thinking. These factors include major physical illness, medication and other substance use, depression and the presence of stroke related injury. When identified, efforts to correct or minimize their effect on thinking are made. In evaluating Alzheimer's and other types of dementia, the team examines the severity of changes in thought, emotion and behavior.
At the Geriatric Center, we strive to provide clear information about dementia and practical strategies that help the patient be safe, comfortable and as independent as possible. We rely on both medication and non-medication treatment strategies and support of both patients and their caregivers is important to us. Referral and coordination with community programs such as the Alzheimer's Association, Southern Maine Agency on Aging and home service providers are one of our strengths. Follow-up care is often arranged following the initial memory disorder assessment.
Falls are known to be a primary cause of injury and accidental death in the elderly and they become more common and the results more serious as we age. The frail and elderly are not the only ones at risk for falling. Even those older persons who appear strong and healthy can be susceptible. In fact, the fear of falling itself can lead to isolation, decreased mobility, deconditioning and depression. The good news however, is that falls in older adults are both predictable and preventable.
MaineHealth Geriatric Care has developed a special clinic to address the issue of falling. The goal of our Falls Clinic is to prevent as many falls as possible by helping seniors to identify potential risk factors for falling and then learn how to control those risk factors. Staffed by a Geriatrician and a Physical Therapist, this clinic is designed to help individuals who have fallen frequently, or who have been identified as a being at risk for falling. Visits to the clinic include a detailed evaluation of balance, strength, endurance and coordination as well as an assessment of other risk factors associated with falling. Those risk factors include:
- Medication side effects and interactions
- Effects of other diseases (such as arthritis or stroke)
- Decreased memory
- Environmental risks
- Development of a comprehensive treatment plan with follow-up visits to the clinic as needed
The ability to successfully manage concerns about falling can have a positive impact on emotional health and well being. Taking steps to prevent falls ensures the ability to engage in daily routines and activities with confidence and improved safety. Contact us for more information, or to make an appointment.
Individuals and Care Teams
- Download and print the Geriatric Center Intake Form and the Authorization to Release and Disclose Patient Information
- Fax completed forms to 207-662-6434
- We will contact you by phone to set up an appointment and work with your primary care doctor to get your medical records
Physician Referral
Physicians should call 207-662-2847 to make referral appointments.
