Plan realistic and effective treatments for your elderly patients with a more thorough understanding of their needs and the ailments that commonly afflict them. The compelling presence of geriatric patients in occupational therapy practice has led professionals from a wide variety of health care specialties to address some of the conditions more commonly encountered in clinical practice. The Geriatric Patient is an enlightening volume that highlights assessment and treatment techniques for mental and physical ailments and explores typical attitudes held toward aged people and aging by health care professionals that can have serious implications for the care provided to elderly persons. A number of practical topics are discussed--the assessment of nutritional status and needs of geriatric patients; the care of patients suffering from a variety of physical and mental ailments, such as osteoporosis, herpes zoster, balance problems, and Alzheimer s disease; and general approaches to the care of the aging patient.".