We've mentioned before that if you are in kindergarten today, you have a 50% chance of living to be 100 years old. The average lifespan increases every year. The bottom line is that people are living longer. And we know instinctively as caregivers that our parents are living longer than our grandparents did. This all changes the way we are providing care as a community. One of those big changes is the growth of geriatric medicine. It is the study of how aging affects our bodies over a longer period of time.

AARP Prepare to Care podcast host, Marie-Pierre, spoke to Dr. Nasiya Ahmed, a geriatric specialist at Village Physicians in this podcast. They talked about the difference between a geriatric physician and a family physician. When it is time to switch to a geriatric specialist, and what can gerontology teach us about being better caregivers.