GEAR Research

With an aging U.S. population, there is an increasing demand for optimal, interactive care for older adults across emergency departments (EDs), hospitals, and health systems. However, the amount of strong evidence resulting in improved outcomes in geriatric emergency care is limited. The need for research in geriatric emergency medicine (GEM) was acknowledged early on by Lowell Gerson, PhD, who observed the disproportionate use of emergency departments by older persons and, with others, formed the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Geriatric Emergency Medicine Task Force. Dr. Gerson’s work and mentorship has led to several developments, including the establishment of clinical guidelines and accreditation processes for geriatric emergency departments. The Geriatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (GEAR), which aims to establish infrastructure to support collaborative, interdisciplinary research to improve care for older adults, is yet another result of that work.