Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of the elderly. The term geriatrics originates from the Greek γέρων geron meaning "old man", and ιατρός iatros meaning "healer". It aims to promote health by preventing, diagnosing and treating disease in older adults. There is no defined age at which patients may be under the care of a geriatrician, or geriatric physician, a physician who specializes in the care of older people. Rather, this decision is guided by individual patient need and the caregiving structures available to them. This care may benefit those who are managing multiple chronic conditions or experiencing significant age-related complications that threaten quality of daily life. Geriatric care may be indicated if caregiving responsibilities become increasingly stressful or medically complex for family and caregivers to manage independently.
Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome that embodies an elevated risk of catastrophic declines in health and function among older adults. Frailty is a condition associated with ageing, and it has been recognized for centuries. It is a marker of a more widespread syndrome of frailty, with associated weakness, slowing, decreased energy, lower activity, and, when severe, unintended weight loss. As a frequent clinical syndrome in the elderly, various health risks are linked to health deterioration and frailty in older age, such as falls, disability, hospitalization, and mortality. Generally, frailty refers to older adults who lose independence. It also links to the experiences of losing dignity due to social and emotional isolation risk. Frailty has been identified as a risk factor for the development of dementia.
Suzanne Georgina Pitama is a New Zealand academic, is Māori, of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Whare descent and as of 2020 is a full professor at the University of Otago in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Yolanda van Heezik is a New Zealand academic and a professor of zoology at the University of Otago. She is considered one of New Zealand's first urban ecologists.
Marion Frances Robinson was a New Zealand nutritionist and physiologist. She was professor of nutrition at the University of Otago, and is particularly noted for her investigation of the importance of selenium in the human diet.
Joanne Mary Baxter is a New Zealand Māori public health medicine physician and academic and affiliates with the iwi of Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha and Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō. She is a professor and director of Kōhatu, Centre for Hauora Māori, and co-director of the Māori Health Workforce Development Unit at the University of Otago. Baxter took up the position of dean of the Dunedin School of Medicine on 1 July 2022, and is the first Māori woman in the role.
Valerie Wright-St Clair is a New Zealand registered occupational therapist, occupational scientist and Professor of Social Gerontology and Occupational Science in the School of Health Sciences at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
Lois J. Surgenor is a New Zealand clinical psychologist and academic. Her research focuses on eating disorders and traumatic brain injury. As of 2021 she is a full professor at the University of Otago.
Fiona Jean McDonald is a New Zealand physiologist, professor and head of the McDonald Lab and the Department of Physiology at the University of Otago.
Rhiannon Braund is a New Zealand academic and registered pharmacist. She is a professor in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at the University of Otago.
Rachel C. Brown is a New Zealand scientist, professor and deputy head of the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Otago.
Lisa Anne Houghton is a New Zealand-based scientist, professor and head of the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Otago.
Gillian Abel is a New Zealand public health researcher and as of 2021 head of the Department of Population Health at the University of Otago in Christchurch.
Patricia Ann Cragg is a New Zealand physiologist and full professor and former academic administrator at the University of Otago.
Carol Anne Wham is a New Zealand scientist and professor of public health nutrition at Massey University.
Nicola Jane Spurrier PSM is an Australian paediatrician and public health physician who has been the Chief Public Health Officer of South Australia since August 2019.
David R. Murdoch is a New Zealand academic specialising in paediatric infectious diseases, especially pneumonia. He has also worked on Legionnaires' disease and has advised the Oxford University vaccine group and the New Zealand government on COVID-19. Murdoch served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago between February 2022 and June 2023.
George Ian TownFRACP is a New Zealand respiratory scientist and health official. He was appointed the Chief Science Advisor to the New Zealand Ministry of Health in 2019.
Dianne Sika-Paotonu is a New Zealand immunologist, biomedical scientist and academic in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine and Associate Dean (Pacific) at the University of Otago Wellington. She is of Tongan descent and is the first Pasifika biomedical scientist to receive the Cranwell Medal for science communication in 2020 and the 2022 Prime Minister's Science Communicator of the Year prize.
Juliana Mansvelt is a New Zealand social geographer and is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in the geographies of ageing and consumption.
