Mohd Idzwan Zakaria, Malaysia

Lower and middle income countries (LMIC) in Southeast Asia have acknowledged the burden of increasing older person attendees in the emergency department (ED). However, most of them are slower in adopting older people friendly ED. The Geriatric Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group (GEMSIG) College of Emergency Physician (CEP) Academy of Medicine Malaysia has identified the gaps and challenges in knowledge, policies and cultural sensitivities in Malaysia with regards to the management of older persons in the ED(1).

The gaps and challenges are somewhat similar to other LMIC within Southeast Asia. Adopting the Malaysia’s theme as Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN), “Inclusivity and Sustainability”, which promotes “shared progress and ensuring no one is left behind”(2), GEMSIG CEP has organised a GEM workshop as a pre-conference event during the Emergency Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting (EMAS) 2024 last August. Nearly half of the participants were emergency physicians and geriatrician from public and private hospitals in Indonesia.

The participation of these clinicians were supported by their respective hospitals and encouraged by Dr Bobi Prabowo, the Head of Indonesian Society of Emergency Medicine (PERDAMSI) with some of the emergency physicians supported by PERDAMSI. GEMSIG CEP has adopted the European Task Force for Geriatric Emergency Medicine (European Society for Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) and the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS)) training module and assimilated it to Southeast Asian “flavour”. The workshop was well taken and GEMSIG CEP hoped that it would further enhance the management of older persons in their respective hospitals.

References:

1. Zakaria MI. Cross-cultural limitations in the discussion of evidence-based versus person-centred approaches to care for older, frail patients. Emergency Medicine Journal. 2024;41(12):772-.
2. Iskandar IM. 'Inclusivity and Sustainability' is theme for Malaysia's chairmanship of Asean. New Straits Times. 2024 October 11, 2024.