William Dale MD, PhD, FASCO

Structured care processes that provide a framework for how oncologists can incorporate geriatric assessment (GA) into clinical practice could improve outcomes for vulnerable older adults with cancer, a growing population at high risk of toxicity from cancer treatment. We sought to obtain consensus from an expert panel on the use of GA in clinical practice and to develop algorithms of GA-guided care processes.

Utility assessment is typically used to determine quality of life from different diseases. It is rarely done to quantify quality of life for geriatric conditions or for the mode of treatment. We found utilities for long-term care modes by typical geriatric conditions of functional status and cognitive status.

The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project is a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of older adults. A main component is the collection of biomeasures to objectively assess physiological status relevant to psychosocial variables, aging conditions, and disease. Wave 2 added novel biomeasures, refined those collected in Wave 1, and provides a reference for the collection protocols and strategy common to the biomeasures. The effects of aging, gender, and their interaction are… Show more

The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project is a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of older adults. A main component is the collection of biomeasures to objectively assess physiological status relevant to psychosocial variables, aging conditions, and disease. Wave 2 added novel biomeasures, refined those collected in Wave 1, and provides a reference for the collection protocols and strategy common to the biomeasures. The effects of aging, gender, and their interaction are presented in the specific biomeasure papers included in this Special Issue. Show less

We sought to determine factors that correlate with healthy older adults' intention to get tested for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) under 3 different hypothetical conditions: (1) if they noticed they were having memory problems; (2) if a family member suggested that they are having memory problems; or (3) as part of a regular medical examination. Multivariable ordinal regression was used to account for heavily skewed outcome data showing very high levels of interest in screening for MCI. The… Show more

We sought to determine factors that correlate with healthy older adults' intention to get tested for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) under 3 different hypothetical conditions: (1) if they noticed they were having memory problems; (2) if a family member suggested that they are having memory problems; or (3) as part of a regular medical examination. Multivariable ordinal regression was used to account for heavily skewed outcome data showing very high levels of interest in screening for MCI. The strongest, most consistent correlate across all of the intention measures was the desire to know as early as possible if one has Alzheimer disease. Another robust correlate was having had normal memory testing in the past. Older adults appear to have psychologically connected MCI to Alzheimer disease, but how well they understand this connection is not known and requires further study.
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Drs. Hemmerich and Dale are co-first authors

Pilot study of utility-assessment for older adults for receiving long-term care in the home or in a skilled nursing facility. Shows the feasibility of using Time Tradeoff techniques to elicit meaningful utility values in this previously untested scenario.