The ADAPT Program at Geriatrix, Inc.
Behavioral problems in elderly patients are stressful for families, long- term care staff and health care providers. The individual patient's quality of life can suffer, and other residents may become fearful when behavioral problems are not appropriately addressed. Management of other issues becomes more difficult. Treatment approaches exist for behavioral problems, but at Geriatrix we found them difficult to apply. In response, we developed and tested our own approach to the behavioral problems of Agitation, Depression, Anxiety, Pain, and Thinking, the ADAPT Program. (This is not to be confused with ADAPT, the Alzheimer's Disease Anti-inflammatory Prevention Trial). The mission of our program is to identify and stratify those behavioral problems that are treatable and then to apply established guidelines for the management of these problems. This goal is accomplished using the tools of (a) word association and (b) probability weighting that involve the entire care team as well as family members.