Thiti Wongtangman, Phraewa Thatphet, Shan W. Liu

Given the aging of the population worldwide and that emergency departments (ED) are on the front line of managing the geriatric population, it is important to address how to best care for this vulnerable population.

The Geriatric Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group (GEMSIG) recently created an international Geriatric Emergency Medicine Research Group to help address geriatric emergency research questions on an international level.

In October 2020, the research group held its inaugural meeting, comprised of doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists from all around the world who were interested in improving emergency medical care for geriatric patients.  During this meeting, members shared research interests and brainstormed possible topics that would be amenable to international collaboration.

The Group subsequently met and determined two main priority research tasks:

1) To create research priorities for the Group by addressing previous literature and taking into consideration the European geriatric emergency medicine research priorities.

2)  To determine a study related to how COVID-19 is affecting geriatric emergency department patients on an international level.

Options for addressing how to determine what the future research agenda might be for the Group was discussed with a consensus to survey GEMSIG members and other geriatric emergency medicine organizations.  Next steps will include survey design and dissemination.

A second survey will be created with the aim of assessing how the geriatric emergency department population in various countries has been affected by COVID-19.

The Group will meet quarterly and are hoping to recruit anyone interested in doing research to improve the care of geriatric patients.  They hope to recruit nurses, physiotherapists, EMS personnel, allied health personnel and anyone from Africa or Latin America who has an interest in geriatric emergency medicine research.

If you’re interested in joining the group, please contact us and include your CV or biography.