ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the general concept of goal setting in health care, describes an approach to individualizing diabetes care in older patients, and provides practical examples of how to approach goal setting with older patients. For older diabetes patients, the specific risk factor goals of diabetes care should be based on consideration for the balance of benefits and risks of different levels of risk factor control as well as the overall health-care goals of the individual patient. Dementia or cognitive impairment is a sentinel condition for diabetes because it not only affects background more mortality but also alters the ability of patients to fully participate in the self-care. Communicating about the goals of diabetes care is a challenge regardless of the age of the patient. Duration of diabetes and the presence of diabetes complications are also important to consider as they can help the providers understand the baseline risk of developing complications.
