Serving Our Seniors Magazine: Oct-Dec 2022

Virtual Successful Aging Visits at Serving Our Seniors By Sue Daugherty Jeanne Sharrah, 65, is still working, part-time, as a registered nurse. She was the first Erie County resident to have a Virtual Successful Aging Visit with the Cleveland Clinic, at the Serving Our Seniors office. “I thought it went really well. I don’t mind virtual appointments,” she said. She has experienced virtual visits before and as a Diabetes Educator, Jeanne conducts virtual visits with her patients. What she greatly appreciated was the time the doctor made to hear about the health issues that weighed most on her mind. “I have discussed the same concerns with other general practitioners, in the past. In the Successful Aging Visit, my concerns were actually addressed,” she said. “The provider sits down with you (virtually) and doesn’t just address your specific areas of concern. He explored many health-related areas and took the time to listen to what I had to say. I didn’t feel rushed at all and felt it was a more comprehensive review of my health status.” She was also impressed by the attention he gave to reviewing her medications. As an RN, Jeanne has an advantage. She is more knowledgeable about prescription medication compared to those without a nursing background. Having the opportunity to discuss her apprehension about one of the prescribed medications proved to be invaluable. It changed her course of treatment. Jeanne also noted, “During the appointment, the doctor shared results of studies done with memory loss showing improvements with use of hearing aids. It dawned on me then, that I previously had some short-term memory issues that I chalked up to aging, but had noticed improvement in the last several years. I did not relate it to being hearing impaired, but the improvement in my memory came after I started to wear the hearing aids.” “The doctor also gave me ideas for what I could do to prevent some of these health concerns, such as putting more foods with anti-oxidants into my diet.” Then she laughed and said, “Did you know dark chocolate is a great source of antioxidants?” Like me, Jeanne also believes people in our age group wonder if their memory changes are normal – or not. In her experience, this wasn’t proactively addressed in the primary care setting. Jeanne found the amount of time spent in the Virtual Successful Aging Visit to be very beneficial in furthering her goal of aging well. 20