The Five Weekend Care of the Elderly Certificate Course 2026

Welcome

The Five Weekend Care of the Elderly Certificate Course is aimed at primary care practitioners and geriatrics consultants who want to develop their own clinical skills or function as resources in their communities.

In completing this course, participants:

• Actively participate in facilitated small group discussions of approaches to common geriatric problems.

• Practice physical and cognitive examination and diagnostic skills specific to the elderly.

• Discuss interdisciplinary care support provided in a family health team or an inpatient geriatric rehabilitation unit.

• Practice clinical procedures related to care of the elderly, including steroid joint injection of osteoarthritic joints, pessary insertion, and urinary catheterization.

• Discuss community resources and supports (e.g., Alzheimer’s Society First Link Program) that are critical to the provision of care to the elderly and ways to effectively access them on behalf of their patients.

• Debate the advantages and disadvantages of preventative care strategies in the elderly (e.g., colon and breast cancer screening).

• Role-play discussion of advance directives.

Participants complete a total of four written assignments that deal with a clinical challenge they encounter in their office, along with a post-reflective activity after attending the course describing changes that are adopted in their practices to improve the care of elderly patients.