The legacy of Dr Marjory Warren's publications

TL;DR

This paper reviews Dr. Marjory Warren's work in geriatric medicine, highlighting her innovative but outdated approaches to elderly patient care.

Contribution

The paper clarifies Warren's historical contributions to geriatric care and evaluates their relevance to modern practices.

Findings

Warren introduced comprehensive care plans and team-based interventions for older patients.

Her methods included paternalistic elements and lacked objective outcome data.

Some of her proposed practices are no longer feasible or have been modified.

Abstract

While the contributions of Dr Marjory W. Warren to geriatric medicine are widely acknowledged, their specifics have become obscured by the passage of time. The primary objective of this narrative review of her medical publications was to clarify the contributions she made for this field of medical practice. A total of 82 publications were found. In them Warren presented a then novel and hopeful approach to the management of older patients that included making care plans derived from comprehensive assessments, implementing team-based interventions, and ensuring continuity of care. These innovations, though, took years to implement and included what would now be considered a number of paternalistic and hierarchical aspects. Objective patient outcome data was rarely presented. While responsible for innovations that remain key to the field, some of what she proposed are either no longer possible (e.g. large in-patient units with prolonged lengths of stay) or have required modifications to align with current practice.