Abstract The proportion of older people in the world population is growing rapidly. Training and retaining healthcare professionals in sufficient numbers in the field of ageing represents a major challenge for the future, to deal with the healthcare needs of this ageing population. The COVID pandemic has unfortunately compounded shortages of healthcare workers worldwide. There is therefore a pressing need to scale-up the education of healthcare professionals in geriatrics and gerontology. Over the last 30 years, a group of motivated geriatrics physicians from Europe have been striving to educate healthcare professionals in geriatrics and gerontology through various initiatives, and using innovative pedagogic approaches to train physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic unfortunately put a stop to presence-based training programmes, but prompted the development of the online International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) eTRIGGER (e-Training In Geriatrics and GERontology) course, a new training course in geriatrics and gerontology for healthcare professionals from a wide range of backgrounds. We outline here the history of the educational initiatives that have culminated in the roll-out of this new programme, and the perspectives for the future.
Aim: Falls are common in patients with cognitive disorder. The purpose of this study was to determine whether global brain atrophy is associated with cognitive function, physical performance and fall incidents in older adults with mild cognitive disorder. Methods: A total of 31 older adults with mild cognitive disorders (mean age 78.9 ± 7.3 years) were studied, and 10 of them had experienced falls and the others had not in the past 1 year. Cognitive function and physical performance were measured in these patients. Global brain atrophy was determined by the Voxel‐Based Specific Regional Analysis System for Alzheimer's Disease software. Results: Fallers showed significantly worse scores than the non‐fallers in the Global Brain Atrophy Index, Clock Drawing Test (CDT), Verbal Fluency Test (animal), maximum walking time and Timed Up & Go (TUG) Test. The Global Brain Atrophy Index was correlated with the Verbal Fluency Test (animal; r = −0.522), the Verbal Fluency Test with letter (ka; r = −0.337), CDT ( r = −0.547), TUG ( r = 0.276) and Five Chair Stands Test ( r = 0.303) by age‐adjusted correlation analyses. Stepwise regression analysis showed that the Global Brain Atrophy Index (β = 1.265, 95% CI 1.022–1.567) was a significant and independent determinant of falls ( R 2 = 0.356, P = 0.003). Conclusion: Global brain atrophy might be indicated as one of the risk factors for falls in older adults with mild cognitive disorders. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2013; 13: 437–442 .
