This is where I organize the concepts I read about into notes. There’s a toggle switch at the top of each page: the lay version explains things in plain language, while the pro version expands on English terminology, textbook citations, dosages, and details. Most of these notes branch out from blog posts, and you can click back and forth between them.
Notes
The Five Stages of Behavior Change: Why "Telling People to Exercise" Rarely Works
The Transtheoretical Model divides behavior change into five stages, and the patient education required at each stage is entirely different. Throwing exercise routines at someone who hasn't even thought about changing is bound to fail. This post covers the five stages, the intervention strategies for each, and the three underlying mechanisms.
Motivational Interviewing: How to Talk to People Who Don't Want to Change
The core of motivational interviewing isn't persuasion, but drawing out the person's own reasons for wanting to change. This post uses six steps of an interview to string together the right attitude, four tasks, listening skills, and signals of change, plus a verbatim transcript of a demonstration.
Late-Life Depression: The Disease Easily Mistaken for "Normal Aging"
Late-life depression often presents as physical discomfort, lack of energy, and memory decline, making it easy to miss as normal aging or dementia. This post summarizes its atypical presentation, differentiation from dementia, specific screening tools, and the evidence for exercise as a treatment—which works just as well as medication.
Impaired Insight in Dementia: When the Patient Says "I'm Fine"
Older adults with dementia often say "I'm fine, no problem," while their families are already exhausted from caring for them. This is often not stubbornness, but a neurological impairment of insight called anosognosia. This post summarizes its difference from psychological denial, its mechanisms, evaluation, and why we must always ask an extra family member during history taking.
Gerotranscendence: The Body Declines, But the Mind Can Grow Richer
Gerotranscendence is a gerontological theory proposing that healthy aging isn't just about maintaining physical function, but also involves a mindset shift: decreased fear of death and a greater focus on a few meaningful relationships. This post summarizes its three dimensions, the strength of the evidence, and its clinical boundaries.